LA Rams GM Les Snead 2 options: pray for miracle or bite bullet

LA Rams GM Les Snead must pray for miraculous turnarounds on top-paid players or bite the bullet on bad contracts in 2020.

The LA Rams face some tough choices as the team approaches the 2020 Free Agency market.  Tough choices of the team’s own doing. Since trading for quarterback Jared Goff in 2016, the Rams have not picked in round one of the NFL Draft, and will not have the option of doing so until 2022. Six years without a Day one selection is a tough path to walk as an NFL organization.

In 2016, the Rams had to trade up for quarterback Jared Goff, so the team traded two firsts, two seconds, and two third-round picks to the Tenessee Titans to do so. In 2018, the Rams had to have wide receiver Brandin Cooks, so the team traded their 2018 first and sixth-round picks to the New England Patriots for him. In 2019, the team had to have cornerback Jalen Ramsey, so they traded two first-round picks to the Jacksonville Jaguars.  The impact of three successive huge trades has excluded the Rams from day one of the NFL Draft for five of six past years. The LA Rams had a first-round pick in 2019, but traded back twice.

Once the players arrived, the Rams doubled down on their acquisitions by making them rich beyond their production.  QB Jared Goff is paid like an elite NFL quarterback, yet does not produce like one yet.  WR Brandin Cooks is paid like an elite NFL wide receiver, yet has not produced like one for the Rams.  Even the once sure-footed running back Todd Gurley was signed to an extension with so much guaranteed money that he is paid like one of the top NFL running backs, but he no longer produces like one.

Through trading away NFL Draft picks and handing out copious amounts of money, the Rams have committed themselves to players who are simply not playing up to the level of their compensation. That’s not just bad news for the team, but also for the players who DO deserve to be paid for the impressive production for the LA Rams, but who will not as the Rams simply haven’t the available funds to do so.

Money can buy happiness in the NFL

Yes, the LA Rams can make moves to free up over $80 million of salary-cap space, as long as the players agree to do so. Despite this being a top priority this off-season, there has been no indication that the team will do so with anyone. That leaves the Rams with few options, but some very tough choices.

If the Rams had enough available salary-cap space, the team could actively pursue re-signing ILB Cory Littleton, OLB Dante Fowler Jr., DE Michael Brockers, ILB Bryce Hager, OT Andrew Whitworth, C Austin Blythe, and K Greg Zuerlein. The players would be happy to return, the organization would be happy to welcome them back, and the fans would be delighted to have so many integral players remain in Rams’ jerseys for the 2020 NFL season.  To get enough money to do so, the Rams must be willing to make tough choices.

The team is scheduled to part ways with up to 18 players due to expired contracts, some of whom were key contributors to the team’s success.  Tough choices indeed, and each year those choices become tougher. When the Rams committed over 50 percent of the team’s annual salary cap to five players, the hope was to assure the team held onto the best available players in the NFL.

In 2019, Goff, Gurley, and Cooks all had markedly poorer showings than they had previously.  The same players who signed for significant guaranteed pay failed to produce results in 2019. The LA Rams gambled on four veteran players and lost the gamble in three of the four contracts. Those players got paid, yes. But four of the five were not the best in the NFL.  Only a contract extension to defensive tackle Aaron Donald made sense. He was an annual All-Pro player.

We’re gonna need a miracle, to make it come out right…

Okay, so the team was a little short-sighted in their roster plans. But when it comes to NFL contracts with a team short of draft picks, short-sightedness is a luxury the LA Rams can not afford. Committing so many guaranteed dollars across the board exposed the team to overpaying players, which made the team vulnerable.  Four of five players underperformed in 2019. Now, with guaranteed money and roster bonuses about to kick in, the Rams have no good options.

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Like the old Fram oil filter commercials from the 1970s and 1980s.  The Rams can “pay me now, or pay me later.”

I’m no scrooge. I’m happy that the players get paid. But I am not the only person associated with the LA Rams who see the 2020 contract expiration of wide receiver Cooper Kupp and wonder where his money will come from? In fact, the Rams will need to determine how to pay for Kupp, cornerback Jalen Ramsey, cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman, outside linebacker Clay Matthews, cornerback Troy Hill, tight end Gerald Everett, safety John Johnson, wide receiver Josh Reynolds, and outside linebacker Samson Ebukam.

As of today, that money is NOT on the books. And as of today, the Rams can not afford to re-sign those players either.

The easy way, or the hard way

There is always the easy way. Yes, easy, because the Rams can leave everything in place. Let the players get paid., The team can watch ten Rams walk into the NFL Free Agency market in 2020 because the Rams paid WR Brandin Cooks, RB Todd Gurley, cornerback Jalen Ramsey, and QB Jared Goff as if they were tops in the NFL.  And then the Rams can hope for the best.

The Rams can place all their hopes that the team can somehow bring all four back to their potential and the level of player the team paid for so willingly. Add RT Rob Havenstein to the mix as well, who also suffered a sharp downturn in 2019.  The Rams’ hope hinged upon rebounds for five NFL players at once. Then, it won’t sting as much knowing the team depleted the defense of their top 2019 stars because they broke the piggy bank for offensive players who failed to show up last season.

Or the LA Rams can step up and bite the bullet in 2020.  By that, I mean the Rams can eat the salary cap penalties built into the contracts by trading both RB Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks in 2020.  Doing so now would relieve the team of $3.6 million net in 2020, and gives the team plenty of cap space in 2021 to afford next year’s free agents.  The team can simply convert QB Goff’s 2020 bonuses, freeing up an additional $24 million.  And finally, extending CB Jalen Ramsey can free up another significant amount of 2020 cap space by stretching dollars over multiple years.

Of course, the strategy of biting-the-bullet in 2020 does not fix everything. But it does give the Rams a fighting chance of paying market prices for some of their projected 2021 free agents.  And perhaps in the process, of affording some of the teams outgoing 2020 free agents as well.