St. Louis Rams: Looking Ahead To The 2016 Free Agency

For the most part, the St. Louis Rams are done with free agency in 2015. With minor signings, a few with some upside, the Rams went this offseason without that big splashy name. They did make some splashy moves, but despite all their cap space, they did not sign one of the so-called, big name players.

While waiting for some news about the Rams maybe signing another free agent or re-sign Joe Barksdale, here’s a look at this list of some of the big players who are scheduled to hit free agency in 2016.

Their Own

The Rams have a bunch of their own players that are set to hit free agency in 2016, and most likely, their not going to be able to bring all of them back. Here are ten Rams that are set to hit the market next offseason.

1. Nick Foles

2. Benny Cunningham

3. Brian Quick

4. Nick Fairley

5. Michael Brockers

6. William Hayes

7. Trumaine Johnson

8. Janoris Jenkins

9. Mark Barron

10, Greg Zuerlein

These are just ten of 26 players to hit the free agent market for the Rams in 2016. Now, while these are ten players that are big to what the Rams do, most likely they will only be able to bring back a handful of them, especially with the possibility that they will have to pay Foles $10+ million.

The Rams will have to make some key decisions with a lot their personnel. They’ll most likely try to extend some of these players before they hit the market, but as we’ve seen in the past, that isn’t alway the case. The Rams are going to have to find replacements in the next two drafts as well as in free agency next year.

Going down the list, if Foles impresses this season, the Rams can’t take the chance of finding a franchise quarterback in next year’s draft, they will need to re-sign Foles. If Brian Quick bounces back from his injury, they will need to sign him back to a deal between $5-$7-million. Those are the two given players that the Rams are going to need to make priority.

The Rams are also going to need to make a decision when it comes to bringing back Trumaine Johnson or Janoris Jenkins as well as Nick Fairley or Michael Brockers. The fact of the matter is, the Rams aren’t going to be able to bring back all four of those players and probably not even three of the four. They are going to have to make a decision on one player or the other.

Benny Cunningham, while a solid piece on special teams as well as being a contributor in the back field is a replaceable piece. If Cunningham feels he can start somewhere, the Rams aren’t going to be able to pay him that kind of money especially for a position as replaceable as running back.

Lastly, with Mark Barron and Greg Zuerlein, the Rams are going to have to decide if they are worth bringing back or if there are better options on the market. Barron has yet to prove much and Zuerlein has consistently been inconsistent.

Possible Free Agent Targets

1. QB Robert Griffin III

2. QB Chase Daniel

3. WR Justin Blackmon

4. WR Kendall Wright

5. T Trent Williams

6. G Alex Boone

7. CB Morris Claiborne

8. CB Brandon Boykin

9. S Harrison Smith

10. K Garrett Hartley

There are bigger name free agents out there such as Prince Amukamara, Andrew Luck, and A.J. Green, but these are some names that have a chance to hit that market, although, still a good amount of them will get re-signed.

Players like Daniel, RGIII, Blackmon, and Wright are all players that are low risk, high reward, while Boykin and Claiborne are players with upside.

It’s still a long way before the 2016 free agency period, but it’s never too early to look ahead and see what the St. Louis Rams have in store in the future.

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