Something's Rotten in RamsPark
by CrazyEyesKilla on Mar 7, 2010 3:45 PM CST
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PrintI know that the FO has publicly said they haven't been given any serious financial constraints due to ownership change, but come on- seriously?
Our beloved Rams are the worst team in the league. Shouldn't the worst team be making the biggest effort to improve? I'm not saying we should have paid Julius Peppers a billion dollars to spend the twilight of career on IR, but the thing that troubles me is that we weren't even in the conversation for most of the impact FAs.
Wasn't it convenient that San Diego finally tendered Sproles, then it leaks that the Rams had a visit scheduled for him? Is it bothering anyone else that we don't have a tight end? Or a defensive end for that matter? Or a cornerback (if fletcher bradley doesn't miraculously recover)?
The only thing I can figure is that Billy, Kevin et al have been given specific under-the-table instructions to spend zilch on off season deals. I'm not a financial wizard, or schooled on the paperwork involved with buying an NFL franchise, but something's very fishy about the lack of action, and the amount of talk.
I think they've been handcuffed. And the lack of spending so far has got to be a clear signpost telling us all that there is NO FREAKIN' WAY that they are going to spend first pick money on any position other than QB.
Hear that? That's the sound of the dream of a defense to fear for years to come flushing down the toilet.
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Bothers me too.
Are they really saying that Corey Williams, Anquan Boldin, Antrel Rolle, Dunta Robinson, Kyle Vanden Bosch, Aaron Kampman wouldn’t have helped the team out? We have the worst WR’s in the league and they didn’t even make a play for Anquan Boldin a top five or ten WR in the NFL. He went for a 3rd and 4th. Would you trade Bradley Fletcher and Scott Dorell (our 3rd and 4th pics from last year) for Anquan Boldin? Yeah, thats what I thought. I hate the fact that people hold draft pics in such high regards. You get a kid who may or may not work out over a sure thing? The Patriots have made a real good living off of free agency and trades, often trading draft pics for proven players. Go Rams!
Maybe......
The cardgirls wouldnt trade anquan to a divisional rival and i dont think this free agency class is all that, a bunch of old players isnt going to help this team out that much anyway so save the money and wait till someone who is worth the money comes around. I mean its not like we were expecting to win the SB next year.
Boldin too old? Did you see our WR's last year?
Well if we don’t start winning a few more games, the Rams attendance will drop dramatically, Spags and Devaney will be gone and we will be Detroit. In a perpetual rebuilding faze. (Oh wait they signed a few of these prized free agents). All of these players have 3-5 years left in the tank and are far better than their Rams counter parts. We have to start competing this season; this is not the same era that Jimmie Johnson built the Cowgirls in. And besides that he made them competitive in 2 years. We need to show progress and that means taking on a few veterans to show this young team how to play.
Did he call Boldin too old?
No. He didn’t.
Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.
- John Wayne
No (Rams We Da Best) did I guess, thats why the reply was to him. According to him free agency only had a bunch of old and worthless players. The funny thing is that they are all superior to anything we have playing their position on the Rams roster. We are more interested in drafting “old” backups to the starting backups that we have. Wait…my crystal ball is lighting up…I see, I see awww I see another 1 or 2-15 season. Go Rams!
I see......
Lets pay peppers (who is 30) all the money so he can blow it up like albert h. did for washington last year after he got all that money. Or better yet lets give n. buleson who is avg at best all the money or kampman who jus came off a injury who isnt even healthy yet. who do u want the rams to pick wait i got it lets give up a 1st round pick for marshall who would probaley be gone next year that makes sense. So what am I missen here is there a talented group out there that i dont know about
by RAMS WE DA BEST on Mar 7, 2010 10:11 PM CST up reply actions
lets...
spend money blindly and jus pray it works out that way everybody can say “hey at least they are trying”. ya thats it
by RAMS WE DA BEST on Mar 7, 2010 10:16 PM CST up reply actions
Problem is that you have to make some sort of effort out there just so the fans show you are trying. There is a difference between throwing stupid amounts of money on poor deals, and making educated risks in an attempt to improve and justify your fan base’s continued dedication and willingness to put hundreds/thousands of dollars on tickets.
by kickasskeever on Mar 7, 2010 10:51 PM CST up reply actions
No you don't.
There really aren’t many realistic (i.e., makes sense for the Rams and/or the player would realistically choose the Rams at the same salary over what they got from another team) “educated risks” in this crappy FA market.
These are old FAs who are taking advantage of the shortage of guys available.
Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.
- John Wayne
We have to try
So, you say keep all the players we had the year before, and make little to no attempt to improve on the 1-15 season we had last year.
I definitely agree that many of the free agents out there are not worth the money, but I also don’t believe you can continually try to fill every need by using the draft. The Rams need a bit of work, and at best you can fill 3-4 needs in a very good draft. The Rams have numerous needs, and I think you can afford to make 2-3 mid range buys to get players that could give you 2-3 more wins next year from this pool. They will not figure into the long term development of the team, but will keep the general fan interested and wanting to pay single game ticket prices to go see the Rams next year.
Or I will never get to see a Rams game on TV next year!!!!
by kickasskeever on Mar 8, 2010 10:28 AM CST up reply actions
I never said they should "never" sign any free agents.
I’m talking specifically about this year’s FAs (2010). There is a lot of over-priced (more than your typical over-priced free agents) free agents who are either at or past their primes. And the one’s who are still young and might actually contribute for more than a year are all now super expensive due to the RFA status.
And who’s saying we aren’t making improvements? Are we forfeiting our draft picks? I think there are too many people who refuse to at least look into the future.
Don’t you think some of our rookies and young players will improve this offseason? I’m pretty sure Spags and Devaney think they will. They also know that if you overspend in free agency, you’ll doom your franchise. Especially when the FAs are mediorcre and way too expensive.
I just don’t get this crap about appeasing the fans for a year on guys who won’t help down the road. Really? You would rather have a 5 or 7 win team get turned over year after year as opposed to suffering through a 3 (or less) win team that develops into a playoff contender in 2 or 3 years.
Well, I’m not a fan of this team becoming the Raiders or Redskins. Thats the dumb shit they do.
Seriously though, who in this free agent class (mid-range guys) would you be willing to buy tickets to go see? Besides, those mid-range/non-future guys do nothing for this franchise except get in the way of younger/cheaper guys who need experience.
Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.
- John Wayne
Appeasing fans
Now I know this doesn’t apply to the people who post on this site, as they have been ready and willing to commit to the Rams through the leaner last few years, but the average fan, not the die hard looking five years to the development project fan, wants to be able to spend money to see a team be competitive now.
The Rams make money, and therefore can spend money, because people come to games. If you haven’t noticed, the Rams haven’t been able to sell out home games for a couple years now, and its showing in the drastic drop in the team’s value upon the sale of the team to Kahn. A approximate 150 million dollar loss in team worth is largely due to a general fan base that is tired of going to games where there is no hope of winning. So they stop coming.
Now, it may not be the ideal situation, but it is a part of the game that cannot be ignored. People need to see that the Rams are making moves to improve, not just trying to sit with the talent they have. It doesn’t matter that the Rams think the quality of their players is improving, or that the draft is coming. It will not solve all the answers. I am sorry, it won’t.
Developing a “franchise” is not just avoiding making bad deals and developing talent. It is a business, and sadly for the person who wants a strong perennial playoff contender, you have to address this part.
And, now I am sure I look like the bad guy here.
by kickasskeever on Mar 8, 2010 3:11 PM CST up reply actions
For me, I don't think PR is a bad thing but
If it’s just about making moves for the PR value….I look at it like this: no fans gives up on a winner, so if they build a winning team all this “make a move for the fans” talk all goes away.
In the meantime of building a winner, if you get sidetracked by putting a PR move ahead of a smart football move, you might save a few thousand tickets this year but you’re going to lose them all the same next year when you don’t win. So don’t get sidetracked with that stuff.
If you see a good FA sign, do it. If it’s to appease fans, don’t. They will be glad you didn’t when you have playoff tickets to sell them.
Chasing FAs to appease a fan base
is like a dog chasing it’s tail.
Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.
- John Wayne
Nothing ventured nothing gained!
I understand your point Coach but, no one is talking about making moves just to appease the fans. Most mediocre fans would like us to sign Mike Vick who has a career completion % of 53 and played only one full season. We or at least I am not satisfied with the players that we have picked up. Why are we bringing in talent that may be worse than the talent that we already have when our starters in most spots on the field would be back ups for any other team? There were and are a shit ton of free agents on the board that could still help this team. I don’t think that anyone is saying get this or that player for the fans, they are just saying lets see a genuine effort to get some talent in here. If the plan is 4 or 5 years before we are a contender Spags and maybe Devaney will no longer be employed by the Rams. That I can guarantee. We get 9 players in the draft and statistically 2 maybe 3 of them will be opening day starters. We have to improve mightily every year and I am not seeing it. Jay feely, really? Why aren’t we looking at Derek Anderson or Jake Delhomme as a stop gap? Go Rams!
"no one is talking about making moves just to appease the fans"
Actually I originally replied to keever’s “you have to make some sort of effort out there just so the fans show you are trying”….which I understood to mean exactly that.
Glad to hear you aren’t in that camp.
On a side note, you’ll be happy to hear the Eagles are set to pay Vick his 1.5 Mil bonus, which makes it unlikely another team picks him up at this point. Maybe closer to (or IN to) the season someone will get desperate if their QB’s get wiped out by injury or something.
Thats good!
Good no more stupid Vick talk! Before I say this, note that I am NOT a huge Mcnabb fan either but, I do think we should try to get a Mcnabb or someone of that calibur to start our rookie prima donna QB in the right direction. This is the only somewhat surefire thing about drafting a successful QB into the NFL. See Romo, Brady, E. Manning, Rodgers and Rivers. All sat behind a master for a while until they were ready…hmmm kind of sounds like a who’s who in NFL quarterbacks. Thanks for the info Coach!
so....
lets jus spend money for the hell of it thats it thats out u build a championship. Who cares if it works out lets spend to show fans we r doing something. CHAMPIONSHIP. lol what a joke
by RAMS WE DA BEST on Mar 8, 2010 8:02 PM CST up reply actions
See, actually I am arguing that we spend roughly 10-12 mil per year to sign Terrell Owens because it would sell tickets. Thats it entirely!!! GO TO!!!
You don’t sign failures right. I feel insulted that that is what you think I want. I want to see the Rams make the move to sign solid players, and there were some in this draft, not many, which made the Rams need to show interest and make legitimate attempts at signing players, but the Rams weren’t even in the conversation for those teams.
Why is that? You need to make plays at good players, and when you aren’t even in the conversation at 1-15 then what do the fans have to look forward to, at best a 4-12 team, based solely on improvement on the players we have? Thats bleak. Sorry if I have a problem of rivaling the Lions as the worst team of the decade.
by kickasskeever on Mar 8, 2010 8:34 PM CST up reply actions
Worst team of the decade?
The Rams aren’t even in that discussion.
Unless you’re only counting the last 3 years and decided to forget the first half of this century.
Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.
- John Wayne
We are the worst team now.
We are ranked 23rd (only 9 away from last) and that was with a Super Bowl and 3 playoff seasons early in the decade. We are the worst in the last 4 years. Let"s get to now, yes we are the worst team by far and away in the NFL. Especially now with the Lions making some real moves in the free agent market. Go Rams!
No you don't
Anyone who thinks they aren’t trying probably needs to relax and take a rational look at the situation. These men have their whole livlihood tied into trying. Making bad moves to convince uninformed people they are trying would be career suicide.
by CoachConnors on Mar 8, 2010 11:38 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
no.....
i said the cardgirls wouldnt trade him to a divisional rival and have to see him two times a year
by RAMS WE DA BEST on Mar 7, 2010 9:52 PM CST up reply actions
We DA Worst and I want them to make it better!
Spend money blindly? That’s called the NFL Draft. No I am talking about aggressively pursuing Free agents like Maake Kemoeatu, Lance Moore, Steve Breaston, Willie Parker, Justin Fargas, Dunta Robinson and yes, in an un capped year and with a small payroll sitting at 1 and 15 Julius Peppers who has proven that he is one of the top DE’s in history. Instead we are doing nothing at all but, adding backups to the backups we have starting. Burleson sucks the Lions overpaid and Marshall is only worth a 2nd and 5th. Is he worth it? Yeah if you have a QB that can get it to him. All of the talent I have listed are far better than what we have at those positions. So why haven’t we even given them a sniff? This is proven talent not probable talent and that’s what the Rams need.
and...
suppose the rams did get most of or some of those players and they sucked then u would say how stupid the rams r to waste that money on them and the rams dont know what they r doing. i see maybe one or two players i would have wanted the rams to get but this FA class sucks i am glad they didnt waste money on any one
by RAMS WE DA BEST on Mar 8, 2010 11:33 AM CST up reply actions
albert h.
wasnt he one of the best nt in the nfl and what did he do when he got paid…….lets see nothen washinton def sucked. I have a feeling peppers will do the same thing tank if now that he got paid.
by RAMS WE DA BEST on Mar 8, 2010 11:38 AM CST up reply actions
J. Peppers
Everything you are saying is pure speculation. I could just as easily say that Peppers would have at least 20 sacks and 5 ints for TD’s this season. Here is the truth without making something up. Peppers has been a consistent 16 game starter avg 10.23 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and a few ints every season and that is fact. He consistently draws double teams that would allow others on the D line to break free before the QB can get rid of the ball. This then allows our secondary to cover their guys and even pick off some errant passes. Offenses have to game plan around him. Long and Little combined for 11.5 sacks total last year and no one was game planning around them. Yeah Chicago paid a lot for Peppers but, if he makes your entire defense better isn’t he well worth it? A feeling doesn’t hold up when you are trying to build a team, stats do. This is all water under the bridge because he is gone and we didn’t even attempt to pick him up. Even minus Peppers there are at least 4 players that we should be or should have taken a look at (A.Boldin, D. Robinson, J. Fargas and M. Kemoeatu). I will say it again, if you just keep adding back ups to the back ups that we have starting, we are headed for another 1-15 season.
yet, with the same token-
tons of free agents of the past have been deemed to “old” or “expensive” to bring in. Some players the Rams could’ve had a shot at, but weren’t interested in- Vilma, Sharper, Faneca, London Fletcher, Bart Scott, Houshmandzadeh…
please, don't eat my potato chips.
by CrazyEyesKilla on Mar 7, 2010 5:11 PM CST up reply actions
No worries...
We will bring in 28 year old Hank Baskett and his 37 receptions (over the past 3 seasons), that should fix it! If that source is correct and Baskett even gets a visit, then I can’t help but think that our management is either being handcuffed or are just plain stupid. It’s an uncapped year and how many owners will wait another 2-4 years to make any progress before firing the GM and HC? There are trades to be made and free agents to make offers to. Let’s get a move on and give the fans at least a shred of hope. Remember Devaney without fans the Rams will be playing games in backyards for bragging rights. Lets see just a sign.
I'm not sure the connection you're trying to make with the Sproles thing.
He was going to sign with the Rams until San Diego upped his tender to the highest level. Money didn’t stop that from happening,….San Diego did.
Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.
- John Wayne
Let me clarify...
Sproles wasn’t tendered by San Diego until Thursday, correct? Then on Friday, all of the sudden the Rams say “Hey, that sucks.. we had Sproles scheduled for a visit. Too bad he’s not a free agent.” That’s the only big name we even heard about in relation to a visit.
Then, you’ve got Bernie coming out with “non-sensationalistic” columns championing the fact that “great teams are built through drafting”. This thesis, at it’s core, is true. But the fact remains, the Rams have drafted horribly for the last 6 years. SO- if you’re trying to rebuild a team (and I hope we are) one would think it would require a mix of both savvy free agent signings and shrewd drafting.
I can’t even remember the last impact free agent we acquired..
Jason Brown? lost to injury.
James Butler? lost to injury.
Josh Brown? competent but nothing special.
I’d have to go all the way back to Aeneas Williams to find anything to write home about.
please, don't eat my potato chips.
by CrazyEyesKilla on Mar 7, 2010 11:19 PM CST up reply actions
Sorry.
I, honestly, have no idea what point you’re trying to make.
Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.
- John Wayne
I thought everyone was excited last year and the year before when we...
….signed Jason Brown,Will Witherspoon, Mike Karney, James Butler, Jacob Bell and Billy Bajema! I have to say that our kicking unit is probably the best tandem in the league with Josh Brown and Donnie Jones and they were both signed as free agents. Why Donnie Jones didn’t make it to the Pro Bowl, I don’t know.
When these free agents get signed, everyone knows that there is a distinct possibility that the players will get hurt. Same can be said for the millions the Bears spent on Julius Peppers. Just because some of these guys got hurt, doesn’t mean that they are not impact players. If we can get get Jason Smith, Jason Brown, Jacob Bell, Adam Goldberg and Alex Barron all healthy and on the same page, we have the groundwork for a pretty solid offensive line. Barron watching his penalties means being on the same page.
Trades
I have to laugh when I hear comments like “we could have player X for a Y and Z draft choice.”
What you fail to realize is that the Rams pick at the top of each round. In the Bolton trade, the Ravens’ third and fourth round picks are much lower than our third and fourth round picks. Actually their picks are closer to our fourth and fifth round picks.
The way I look at it is there is no single player that is going to make this team a playoff contender this year. Why spend lots of money and mortgage our future by trading draft picks for a player or players that might get us to 6-10? If we can draft players and get to 6-10, that’s better than trading multiple draft picks to get one player and get to 6-10. It saves cap room and gives us an additional player(s) because of the draft pick(s) we didn’t lose via trade.
Everybody screamed when we traded Witherspoon to Philly for a WR and a fifth round pick. Philly made the playoffs, one and done. Witherspoon was released. We got a WR and a draft pick. Who won?
This talented team (1999 – 2003) didn’t turn into a pile of dung over night. It took several years of poor player development, drafting, and free agent signings to do it. It’s going to take several years of hard work to undo it. If we can fill 3-4 holes a year via the draft, I ‘ll be happy. I’ll be upset when we don’t go after big name free agents when we are on the cusp of being really good, not when we’re really bad.
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. -- George Santayana (1863-1952)
Very well said.
Only five players have averaged 25 and 10 in their playoff careers. One of them, Dirk Nowitzki.
I agree that trying to spend huge dollars
to pick up someone like Peppers would be a mistake. We should build the team for the most part through the draft. However, that doesn’t mean we can’ t pick up anyone through free agency. We did it last year and every was happy. I don’t understand why this year we couldn’t make a run at Chester Taylor, for instance, to back up SJ. If we don’t get someone to take some of the load, he is gonna be an old man in a couple of years. Yet we made no effort to get Taylor. I don’t know what Bodden would cost, but if we don’t get Fletcher back at CB due to his injury, we are going to be hurting at CB. I’m not looking for cornerstone players through FA. Most of them have to come through the draft. But it’s going to take another two or three years before we get all the major holes plugged, and there are a few players out there who could help plug some of those holes right now and wouldn’t cost us a huge amount. I just don’t understand why we are completely ignoring this possibility.
Chester Taylor
Maybe he preferred the situation in Chicago (as the #1 running back) as opposed to the Rams (as the #2 running back behind a horse)?
I would, however, make a strong play at Bodden.
Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.
- John Wayne
Cub Fred..
Michael Bolton is not a free agent and the Rams would have to trade every one of thier 2010 and 2011 draft choices to secure such a golden singing voice. Andy, don’t worry M Bolton is on his way! Once the players hear his version of the nation anthem they will be ready to dethrone the Saints. Just kidding Fred..The Rams are content to bring in AJ Feely and some “back ups” to insure that we dont mess up our dynasty of being last in the league for another decade to come. 1990-1999 league’s worst record (Damn that Kurt Warner almost pulled us out of it with that circus stunt Super Bowl!) 2000-2009 23rd worst record (again Kurt Warner, Faulk, Martz and Vermiel, we had better get rid of them!) 2010- Steady as she goes! Sorry guys had to blow of a little steam! The Rams are the reason my blood pressure has been high since 1987 (Dickerson).
While I don't agree
with a full-blown conspiracy, I do think that the Rams have been keeping themselves out the FA conversation for some undisclosed reason. Everyone’s talking about Arizona losing starters, the difference being they have decent backups ready to step up. As of today, we have A LOT of holes in our depth chart.
I thought Kampman would’ve been a great addition, but what the hell do I know?
by mooseknuckles41 on Mar 9, 2010 12:27 AM CST reply actions
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