2024 Free agency and draft thread

[Shanemansj13]

I had to do a double take because I was positive that Gilmore wasn't on the Lions

I got NFCN teams mixed up. He is on Minny. Makes sense now still confused me

 

[fightinfunbags]

I got NFCN teams mixed up. He is on Minny. Makes sense now still confused me

The Browns cut Jim Brown and Bernie Kosar

 

[eaglesnut]

WTF why announce this slapdick

They announce a lot of dumb shit

 

[Xeliou66]

Cards release Desmond Ridder. He’s not even going to be on a roster this year - that shows how awful the Falcons QB situation was last year and what a gigantic dumbass Arthur Smith was for starting him.

 

[Iggloo]

They announce a lot of dumb shit

I think they do it to kiss the asses of the agents.

 

[Xeliou66]

Rams trade Ernest Jones to the Titans for a 5th round pick. Wow, that’s surprising - Jones was their leading tackler last season - what exactly are the Rams planning to do this year? Their front 7 has now taken big hits with Donald retiring and Jones traded away.

 

[Iggloo]

I read that they did not want to pay Jones and were happy with some rookie LB. But I think bottom line this was cap related. They did not want to invest in Jones.

 

[Xeliou66]

I read that they did not want to pay Jones and were happy with some rookie LB. But I think bottom line this was cap related. They did not want to invest in Jones.

Just seems odd to me because Jones had a stellar year last season and is a strong LB. I wonder if the Rams are planning to start a rebuild soon. Omar Speights is the rookie who will likely play a big role in the Rams D now - they must really like what they’ve seen from him.

 

[fastforward]

Jones is a $9-13M ILB with a $3M contract. He plays 90%+ of snaps. He's very good against the run and he's a very solid tackler. He's ok in zone coverage but not so good in man coverage. There are very few LBs you'd want in 1-on-1 coverage. He's a decent pass rusher. He presumably wants a pay increase and a long-term contract. He has knee issues. The Rams of the last 10 years haven't valued the ILB position highly and they don't sign ILBs to long-term contracts. If he was willing to play out his contract with another team he would have been worth a high 3rd round pick in trade value. With a higher contract he might be worth a mid-high 4th. He's done everything the right way. He's outplayed his contract, hasn't held out, and hasn't been a cancer. The Rams have tried to do the right thing by him. It's a small under-sell.

 

[Clayton]

Chiefs have traded 7th rounders for Peyton Hendershot TE Cowboys and Cam Thomas DE Arizona.

Not familiar with Hendershot but Thomas was productive in college IIRC

 

[eaglesnut]

I think they do it to kiss the asses of the agents.

Sure do. It's fake news.

 

[fightinfunbags]

Just seems odd to me because Jones had a stellar year last season and is a strong LB. I wonder if the Rams are planning to start a rebuild soon. Omar Speights is the rookie who will likely play a big role in the Rams D now - they must really like what they’ve seen from him.

A good number of teams don’t want to invest in that position.

 

[fastforward]

The Rams kept Ronnie Rivers at RB3 over Zach Evans. That was the only real Rams surprise for me. Rivers saw very little action in preseason, presumably in hindsight because he had done enough in camp to win the RB3 role. Evans will be a good depth RB for someone. Sadly Xavier Smith was cut in favour of Tyler Johnson, but I did expect it. Many Rams fans didn't see it coming and they are howling.

 

[VikingFan2k2]

The Rams kept Ronnie Rivers at RB3 over Zach Evans. That was the only real Rams surprise for me. Rivers saw very little action in preseason, presumably in hindsight because he had done enough in camp to win the RB3 role. Evans will be a good depth RB for someone. Sadly Xavier Smith was cut in favour of Tyler Johnson, but I did expect it. Many Rams fans didn't see it coming and they are howling.

I'm kind of surprised by Tyler Johnson. I thought his career was circling the drain. I'm glad he made it, because I've been a fan of his since he was in high school.

 

[fastforward]

I'm kind of surprised by Tyler Johnson. I thought his career was circling the drain. I'm glad he made it, because I've been a fan of his since he was in high school.

He started all 3 preseason games but he was invisible and the Rams have nothing invested in him. Xavier Smith looked like a hungry, NFL-ready WR. For WR6 i'd have taken the rookie with upside. I know that preseason games are almost irrelevant to a coaching staff. They've seen what players produce behind closed doors, how they handle themselves in meetings, etc, so I can understand why the Rams thought differently.

 

[VikingFan2k2]

He started all 3 preseason games but he was invisible and the Rams have nothing invested in him. Xavier Smith looked like a hungry, NFL-ready WR. For WR6 i'd have taken the rookie with upside. I know that preseason games are almost irrelevant to a coaching staff. They've seen what players produce behind closed doors, how they handle themselves in meetings, etc, so I can understand why the Rams thought differently.

Tyler has an astounding work ethic. I don't know how much he will contribute with overall talent, because usually WR5-6 has to be on special teams, but he never has taken a day off in his life.

 

[shopson67]

I read that they did not want to pay Jones and were happy with some rookie LB. But I think bottom line this was cap related. They did not want to invest in Jones.

They were willing to give him a raise, but apparently they were far apart in negotiations. They have 2 solid ILB UDFAs this year that both made the roster in Speights (LSU) and Neal (Marshall), Speights might be the starter? I guess we'll see, he was impressive in preseason for whatever that's worth.

 

[shopson67]

He started all 3 preseason games but he was invisible and the Rams have nothing invested in him. Xavier Smith looked like a hungry, NFL-ready WR. For WR6 i'd have taken the rookie with upside. I know that preseason games are almost irrelevant to a coaching staff. They've seen what players produce behind closed doors, how they handle themselves in meetings, etc, so I can understand why the Rams thought differently.

They signed Smith to the practice squad.

 

[fastforward]

They signed Smith to the practice squad.

True. I know they did. There are Rams fans on other sites saying they were shocked Smith didn't make the active roster, which made me chuckle. They signed 3 WRs to the PS, which seemed a bit strange. Not an issue to me and i'm not 2nd guessing the team but for the life of me I can't understand why WR9 is on the PS. They signed Evans to the PS as well, but when they claimed another RB off waivers it was clear that Evans wasn't going to stick there either as RB5. It should act as a reminder to me that just because someone starts PS games and plays hard/well that they're not always going to stick as a depth player. I know Rivers was ahead of him last year, especially early on when Evans whiffed on some 2023 preseason blocking. Maybe he didn't show much in camp. Maybe he's too similar to the players ahead of him. Maybe they wanted a speedy, slot-receiver type of RB rather than a FB type. Whatever. Roll on SNF.

 

[DJ Fieri]

The season is right around the proverbial corner.