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The Professor
The rams start with 36+ million. Resigning ERFAs WRs Natson and Hodge, CBs Hatfield and Peterson and OLB Sickels drops the rams to 33.4. In regard to the RFAs, I'd give an original round tender (2.035 million) to CB Hill, S Countess and OLB Fox (who was penciled in as a OLB starter), and a second round tender (3.11 million) to Littleton. The Rams will need to work with CJ Anderson to resign him. If they cannot, they can sign RFA Malcolm Brown to an original round tender to Brown as well.
Having thought a bit about it, they probably do not offer Hill and Fox guaranteed 2 million dollar tender offers. Hill would be coming in as the #4 CB and I am not sure what Fox has as a OLB. If they resign Fowler then Fox is a question mark at the other OLB (switching positions and coming off an injury).
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The Professor
Of the FAs, the priorities are Anderson and Saffold on Offense. Saffold is a minimum 8 million and probably more as he is worth a 10+ million contract on the open market. I penciled in Anderson for two years with a cap number of 2.7 next year and did not offer Brown a RFA contract. I gave Saffold a 8 million cap number for 2019. I then cut Barron which saved 6.33 million. I turned around and gave most of that to Fowler (probably not enough to keep him 3 years 19 million with a 5 million cap hit in 2019). So the big internal signings were Saffold, Littleton, Fowler and one of their backup RBs.
If we do not sign other FAs (Mannion, Suh, Joyner, Easley, Westbrooks, Shields, Longacre, Wilson, Hagar) then we have holes at DT, ILB, OLB #2 QB, and veteran depth on the DL, and LB. The team would be down to 15 million to fill the rest of the roster. As RFA tenders are guaranteed perhaps some of the offers I made to Hill or Fox will not be made which would increase the rams cap space a bit.
By not offering Fox or Hill RFA contracts, the Rams would have 19 million but also would need more depth at CB (perhaps offer Hill/Shields contracts at lower offers than 2 million a year). If Barron is let go, they may try to hold onto Wilson as either depth or a starter.
One thing to note is that if the rams want to get comp picks for losing Suh, Joyner, etc., then they really have to sit out the first and second waves of FA. So they are unlikely to get a top of the line player from the FA pool. They would have to go to the trade market again or pick up players who were cut.
