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LMU93
Good thoughts. My opinion:
Weddle and Havenstein- agreed...
I'm hoping Whitworth's deal is something like $5M plus incentives. Not sure of the cap implications but anyway.
I doubt Blythe commands big money but $4.5M over two years is probably low in my opinion. Maybe $8-9M over 2 years including incentives?
I'd love to keep Christian but not at $3M/year. This team can't pay their 3rd safety/6th DB that.
I think Zuerlein stays on a team-friendly deal, and not sure why they wouldn't keep Fox as a RFA.
OG- I see a veteran OG coming in but likely someone in their 7th-9th years that gets released elsewhere. In part to not offset those comp picks they could have coming in 2021 but also because I think they want to pay that spot more like $6-7M, not $13-14M. I can't see them letting Saffold go and letting Littleton and Fowler go now but paying another guard $13-14M.
My hope- right now- for the Draft is simply to focus their top 3 selections on best available OL and defensive front seven. If Zuerlein is signed for just one year and not much guaranteed I could them keeping an eye on kickers late in the draft to compete in camp.
Thanks for the feedback.
I've been on the resign Whit for one more year bandwagon for a while now and originally I was hoping for $5M too. But I think that's a little too unrealistic and I finally decided that $2.5M is not a deal breaker for me anyway. What is a deal breaker is going into next year with question marks on the OL again. Their best OL last year was Whit so if it takes $7.5, I think they gotta do it.
For Blythe, he is just not a top ranked center. I have him returning b/c he stabilized that line and played decently at center (very bad at guard). Spotrac says that the 20th highest paid vet center is at $3M, 25th is at $2.15M, and 30th is at $.66M. IOW, if you're not a top ranked center you're not highly paid. Trey Hopkins just signed for $6.8M per year in Dec 2019 and he is a much higher rated center than Blythe. Spencer Long and Greg Mancz are other good comps. They signed for $4.2M and $3M respectively. I think the Rams could go into the $3 - $4M range but if someone sees Blythe as a top 10 center and is willing to pay him $8-9M then the Rams will move on and recoup the comp pick.
On Christian and Fox...maybe they don't pay their 3rd safety that much. But I don't know why they'd be willing to pay Fox the minimum RFA salary of $2.14M. He's been a nonfactor and injured for his entire duration with the team. Lots of potential he hasn't realized.
I hope they can get GZ on a team friendly deal. I'd decline if it was a typical market rate deal.
OG - Maybe you're right that they prefer a vet at a much lower price range. That seems to be a popular opinion. Who knows...But I will give my reasoning why they could let Saffold walk but still resign another high priced guard. Snead has said many, many times that the key to building a team when it comes to retaining the team's free agents and signing free agents on the market is the 2nd contract. That is the prime age. Saffold was on his 3rd contract; Snead doesn't prioritize those. A Scherff or Thuney would be a 2nd contract signing which means you could do a 5 or 6 year contract with relatively little fear of falloff due to age.
As for letting Fowler and Littleton go, it's not just about paying another guard, it's also about being in position for their big free agent class next year. I see Kupp for sure and possibly JJ as higher long term priorities for the team.
