LA Rams 2020 Free Agency Primer – shopping for 2020 NFL players

The LA Rams face a critical off-season in 2020, spawned by the likely exodus of multiple starters in 2020 NFL free agency market

The LA Rams are heading into the 2020 off-season, and there simply is not much official football to discuss right now. Football in terms of training camp, signed players, projections of new draft selections, and the like. But this is perhaps one of the most ambiguous free agent markets the Rams have entered in a very long time.  Still, a lot will happen rapidly in a matter of weeks, so as a brief refresher for those already in the know, or as a basic introduction for those who do not, here are some key facts and dates to help you prepare for another NFL Free Agency market.

Of course, it all begins with having the money to spend.  We dove into that topic a month ago, and you can review that salary cap discussion here.

The Rams had 18 players with foggy futures heading into 2020.  One of those players, safety Eric Weddle, has opted to retire this year.  The other 17 players fall into several categories:

UFA or unrestricted free agents – players who will be free to negotiate and sign with any of the 32 NFL teams

RFA or restricted free agents – players who are emerging from their rookie contract with three or fewer years of NFL experience. Restricted free agents can sign an offer sheet with any of the other 31 NFL teams, but the Rams will have the opportunity to match that offer.
Restricted free agents receive qualifying, or “Tender”, offer from their original team which come with the Right of First Refusal and/or draft-pick compensation. The higher the tender offer, the greater the compensation if the player is signed away.

Based on various salary ranges, these take the shape of a First-round tender, Second-round tender, Original-round tender, or Right-of-first-refusal tender.  With the Right-of-first-refusal tender, the offering team gets the right to match any offer sheet, but receives no compensation if the team declines to do so.

ERFA or exclusive restricted free agents – players with fewer than three accrued seasons and an expired contract. If his original team offers him a one-year contract and the league minimum (based on his credited seasons), the player cannot negotiate with other teams.

Other NFL Free Agency terms

Of course, there are other terms fans should be familiar with as well. They include
Team Option – A contract written with an option to retain the player for an additional season at the team’s discretion for a defined amount.
Player Option – A contract written with an option for a player to remain with the team for an additional season at the player’s discretion for a defined salary.

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Next of course are the team franchise tags. These are designations a team can use to retain a player whose contract has expired but whose value to the team is so critical that the team must extend or limit the player’s options for one season. If you wish to read more on the subject, the NFL has a very informative article on Free Agency terminology.  We’ve pulled the details for your here.  There are three such designations:

Non-exclusive franchise tag: A player who receives the non-exclusive franchise tag is free to negotiate with other teams.  That player is guaranteed a one-year deal with a salary set at the greater of either 120 percent of his previous salary, or the cap percentage average for his position.

Teams that use the non-exclusive franchise tag can match any offer sheet within 5 days of the player signing. Should it decide not to, the player’s original team shall be entitled to draft-choice compensation equivalent to two first-round picks.

Exclusive franchise tag: The player with this designation cannot negotiate with other teams. He receives the greater of either a five player average salary or the amount of the non-exclusive franchise tag.

Transition tag: A player with this designation may negotiate with other teams. The player is guaranteed a one-year deal for a salary at the greater of either 120 percent of his previous salary, or the average cap percentage of the top 10 players at the position. If the player sign an offer sheet with a new team, his former team has five days to match the offer sheet. If the team declines to do so, there is no compensation.

Important Free Agency Dates

The NFL Free Agency cycle begins in a matter of days, so lets go over some important dates. For a more comprehensive list, NFL.com has a nice article which can be found here.

February 3rd – Teams can begin to waive players (Waiver period begins)

February 11th – Teams can begin to sign CFL (Canadian Football League) players with expired
contracts only

February 24th – March 2nd  – NFL Scouting Combine

February 25th – Teams may now designate Transition or Franchise players

March 10th, 4:00 pm EST – deadline for Teams to designate Transition or Franchise players

March 16th-18th – Teams may actively contact, negotiate, and commit to agreements with player
agents. This period is also known as the “legal tampering period”.

March 18th, 4:00 pm EST – 2019 player contracts expire, 2020 Free Agency begins.

From that moment forward, sports headlines and televised broadcasts will be inundated with the news of players and teams reaching agreements to new contractual arrangements.

Until then, there will continue to be rumors, projections, and speculation about Rams players impacting- both exiting and entering- the team roster. All of which serve to create a rainbow of what might be, not a definition of what will be.

Rams can weather this Free Agency tempest

Right now, the LA Rams have approximately $19,000,000 to spend in free agency.  While that is not exactly a war chest, we had laid out a 5 step plan to free up over $80 million in cap space for the Rams this year. Of course, the effect of such a move is to kick the salary impact can into future years. But the team will likely focus on optimizing their free cap space to ensure the Rams remain competitive this year.

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This is an important off-season for the Rams.  But remember, the first players signed are not necessarily the most productive nor the greatest value in this market.  Patience to convert the seller’s market into a buyer’s market typically yields the best value.

The Rams will no doubt lose some very productive players almost instantly. But even then, the Rams will benefit from additional compensatory picks awards for the 2021 NFL Draft.

There will no doubt be plenty of emotions among fans. Some long-time players will no doubt sign elsewhere for their big NFL payday.  Reports will show “perfect fits”, huge wins, and Super Bowl aspirations before a single NFL snap.

Just remember that Rams players succeed by playing in the Rams system, benefiting by the company of All-Pro DT Aaron Donald, or by an offense designed to score rapidly. No other NFL team boasts so much talent in their receivers, nor defensive backfield.   The team has a ready-to-go supply of talented players who can step up in 2020. For insurance, the team can draft depth and competition for free agent vacancies as well. Ultimately, there are no guarantees  for exiting Rams players to find similar success elsewhere. Nor is there a certain degradation for the Rams future.

32 teams all begin restocking their rosters on March 18, 2020.  That process will not end until teams cut down to their 53-man season rosters.