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RockRam
There are some players that the Rams are going to have to make some tough decisions about. Here is my list of players that will no longer be with the team next season for cap reasons.
Whitworth.......... his performance is on a down trend and his cost is just too high
Brockers........... he isn't worth $11 mil
Fowler............... good performer but not great. However will get elite money in the FA market. Rams can't afford him, and shouldn't pay him that kind of money.
Since Blythe will be a FA, I doubt he'll be back as well.
I know Littleton will be a FA; I think they'll try hard to keep him as he is a consistently good performer who seems to get better every year. Sure tackler, really good cover ILB. Playmaker, even on STs. The kind of guy you keep.
We have five players: Whitworth, Brockers, Fowler, Littleton, and Zuerlein.
The way I'm currently leaning, I think all of them end up leaving except Zuerlein. We probably resign him for around $3.5-$4M.
And we recoup a couple of 3rd and a 4th round pick for the other guys.
As things stand with the cap, one of Fowler or Littleton is likely to take up almost all of the cap space for 2020. Analyzing the market for the positions, both could be in the $16M range.
My assessment here doesn't take into account the recent savings from trades and how rollover money affects their plans. I'm just not sure how they evaluate rollover money and how that affects who they sign long term.
I agree with your assessment on Fowler. Oko's emergence is making the possibility of walking away from him a little easier.
Littleton is a little tougher to evaluate. He is a consistently good performer, sure tackler, playmaker, really good cover ILB, who is also improving. Since last season, it's hard to say there is a better performing ILB in the league. All of these points are reasons he will command a top of the market salary which is $18M or near that. My guess is $16M.
Which is unfortunately because I don't believe Wade has ever prioritized and ILB that highly. He has never paid one anywhere near 8.5% of the cap. And reportedly they also like Howard. I think Littleton walks too.
