As I and others have said: we like Watkins. Would like to keep Watkins. But you can't simply ignore 39 catches and less than 600 yards for a season's work and then turn around and give the guy an enormous long term contract that approaches the Julio Jones and AJ Green territory. He simply is not in their category. He is not a dominant WR.
If some other team wants to do that, then God bless them.
To me, he is in the Marvin Jones/Pierre Garcon/Mohammed Sanu category. A guy you REALLY want to have on your team; but not a guy you throw elite money at. I've felt all along that a contract along the lines of what the Rams paid Woods would be fair.
Teams MUST be smart when making these decisions. Rams have a lot of guys they're going to have to pay in the next couple of years. If those here who believe that it was Watkins deep routes that opened up the middle of the field for Kupp and Woods (and count me among them), that's fine. But haven't we learned by now that you can't pay a guy who has middling performance stats and whose value has much to do with being a decoy, a big bucks contract ala Tavon Austin. Get a legitimate veteran fast guy who can break press man coverage and get deep. He WILL draw that CB with him and cause the Safety to react.
Personally, I hope the Rams are able to keep him. Not Tagging him doesn't mean the Fat Lady has sung.
