Dotson and a contract

[Allen2McVay]

This is why I have been saying that they may have to cut Havenstein ... at most Havenstein would only have one year on this team anyway.

You have been saying that about Havenstein since 2019.

You also did say the Rams would be a playoff team this year ... Good Call.

The Havenstein thing? ... Not so much.

 

[Corbin]

Sounds like they plan to make an attempt to match an offer if it's not outlandish at least. But was really hoping they could get Dotson done before FA. But not surprising and smart of him to test it.


View: https://x.com/AdamGrosbard/status/1762936029336723883?s=20

Was about to post this. Sounds like the agents are shooting for the stars right now.

 

[Merlin]

People mock me for saying they might have re-signed Bruss to look at as an OT this year in OTAs and TC, He was signed as an OT not OG this year. He was a very good RT in college. So are they looking at him as a swing OT this year and possible RT next year? If the Rams want to extend both Shelton and Dotson they will have to clear cap to do it. Both Havenstein and Noteboom are tying up a lot of cap space. Neither project beyond this year anyway.

Bruss is a complete unknown. What that means is that from a planning perspective you cannot rely on him. Rams will not say "well RG should be good with Bruss" because he did not look like he could handle it then he got hurt. Doesn't matter how much you liked his college film at that point. But he's not eliminated from consideration either because who knows maybe he works his ass off and comes into camp and wins that job or a key depth role.

Boom the problem is he has established over many games that he also cannot be relied upon due to the fact he is made of glass. Great guy I am sure. Team player and all that. But they missed on him. Doesn't matter that he can play any position on the line for us when he gets fucking hurt every time we call on him just about. This is why they will cut bait on him. I'll be very surprised if they don't.

So next year what we're gonna have is Bruss as a depth chart darkhorse at RG. Shelton as a shitty worst case option at RG. And possibly McClendon as a mostly unknown at RG. This requires someone being brought in. Either a mediocre or better FA or a draft pick at OG or a LT draft pick that frees up Jackson to fill RG.

 

[El Chapo Jr]

I think they will be able to afford to keep Shelton, but I'm sure someone will over pay for Dotson. Or they will have to pay Dotson basically the same contract as Havenstein. This is why I've been saying that they may have to cut Havenstein and Noteboom if they want to pay Dotson. Cutting Havenstein and Noteboom as post June 1 transactions would give them about $21M in cap space. That would pay for Shelton and Dotson. That wouldn't be a bad tradeoff since at most Havenstein would only have one year on this team anyway. The same can be said for Noteboom. Then the Rams can simply tender Jackson and draft an OT to play RT this year and move to LT next year.

People mock me for saying they might have re-signed Bruss to look at as an OT this year in OTAs and TC, He was signed as an OT not OG this year. He was a very good RT in college. So are they looking at him as a swing OT this year and possible RT next year? If the Rams want to extend both Shelton and Dotson they will have to clear cap to do it. Both Havenstein and Noteboom are tying up a lot of cap space. Neither project beyond this year anyway.

This is why I posted about the Rams FAs waiting to see what their market value is. They will likely need at least $20+ M to extend both Dotson and Shelton. All I've been saying all along is that this will come down to numbers, i.e. how they want to allocate their cap dollars. Shelton and Dotson would give them stability inside for then next 4 years.

Here we go again with the cut Havenstein thing again. Your percentage on this is making Shaq look like a free throw God.

 

[bubbaramfan]

Rams have thrown money around before, should do it again because they have it. Keeping last seasons OL together pretty much guarantees they be top 10 Ol and barring injury with this offense gets deep into the playoffs.


Fuck the money, worry about it later like they've done before, sign Dotson at least, he's more important to the OL than Shelton.

It's not like they haven't overpaid players before, (Noteboom),.

 

[Londoner]

Saw this old thread was active again and thought that there was some news.

Boy, was I wrong.

 

[Malibu]

Couple things here. Dotson had one really good year. His time in Pittsburg cost us only a 5th and they thought so little of him they upgraded the position with Isaiah Seminola from the Jets.

There a bunch of other cheaper guards that are just as good - Hunt, and Zeitler come to mind, and will cost less. Sure we want continuity but not having the $ to use on an extra FA.

In terms of Shelton there are better options period out there could care less if he walks. Wake link on the OL we need an upgrade.

BTW these stupid agents and players get offers that are a couple mil higher and they think that is the smart move. The smart move is to stay with a great organization and take a little less "home town discount", insuring most likely a longer better career - look at Corbett, OBJ, Johnson, Von etc they all thought, they were so smart and then their career dies or is devalued way sooner than anticipated instead of staying with a premier team. Robinson was smart and his career excluding injuries will have extended longevity.

Dotson knows the Rams want him the Rams should say we resurrected your mediocre career into a elite RG show some respect for the team that got you there. Instead he will go to a shit team and will look like shit and get cut after a couple of mediocre years.

 

[Allen2McVay]

Rams have thrown money around before, should do it again because they have it. Keeping last seasons OL together pretty much guarantees they be top 10 Ol and barring injury with this offense gets deep into the playoffs.


Fuck the money, worry about it later like they've done before, sign Dotson at least, he's more important to the OL than Shelton.

It's not like they haven't overpaid players before, (Noteboom),.

OK. Per both Spotrac and OTC, the highest paid guards in the NFL are Quentin Nelson and Chris Lindstrom.
They both have contracts that average $20M-per-year, with a high of $48M guaranteed.

Say Dotson's reps want more.
The cap just saw a huge jump; and there are 8 or 9 teams with more than $50M of cap space right now.

Suppose Dotson's reps tell the Rams ... 'You want us to pass on at least seeing what other teams may offer? OK, it will cost you 5 years / $125M ($25M-per-year), with $70M guaranteed.'

Do you want the Rams to do that? I don't.

 

[Allen2McVay]

Couple things here. Dotson had one really good year. His time in Pittsburg cost us only a 5th

The Rams gave up a 4th (2024) and a 5th (2025) for Dotson, plus a 5th (2024) and a 6th (2025).

 

[Merlin]

If they were working on him with real progress we would have heard something by now. He's gonna go get the bag. Bigger the better too, for that comp pick mix. Hope someone gets real stupid.

 

[bubbaramfan]

No A2Mc I don't. Of course there is a limit. 15 or 17 is high but I'd pay it just cause I know what we're getting and keeping the continuity

 

[OldSchool]

Dotson knows the Rams want him the Rams should say we resurrected your mediocre career into a elite RG show some respect for the team that got you there. Instead he will go to a shit team and will look like shit and get cut after a couple of mediocre years.

LOL Yeah he came in played good earned a contract but he should sit down shut up and take what's good for the team!

 

[WestCoastRam]

Feels to me like Dotson is gone. Or more accurately it feels like the decision has been made to hit the market, which makes sense for him, and from there some stupid fucking team is going to overpay him.

So for now and until I hopefully hear differently I'm thinking maybe the plan is drafting the replacement. That could take two different shapes too. It could be drafting a LT prospect and moving Jackson to RG. Or it could be drafting an interior lineman.

Pisses me off but in the end if they were to find a LT in this draft that would be far better than paying Dotson. I know those two things are not exclusive. But you can figure guard out. LT however is quite specific and some guys are simply never going to be what you want year to year, maybe not even game to game. Jackson has done an admirable job filling that role but I just can't seem to convince myself that it's wise to pay him to do it. I don't think he's got the feet for it. So if the Rams plan is to attack LT in this draft then I cannot fault that, even though I do want them to sign Dotson.

This kind of thinking lends itself to a ton of flexibility for the Rams and potentially a better Oline in the future. Drafting one of the top tackles after losing Dotson is a good consolation prize... which may turn into 1st prize at the state fair after a year or two.

FWIW, we need to draft a tackle this year no matter what with Havenstein's contract nearing it's end, Jackson probably needing to be paid in a year and losing our top swing tackle.

I don't think people realize how high tackle probably is on the Rams needs list.

 

[Flatlyner]

I think Dotson is gone, he will get paid some absurd amount that we can't and shouldn't match. I say we turn some efforts to Hunt and/or Connor Williams. Williams would be a huge upgrade at center, Hunt would be similar to Dotson. Both should cost less then Dotson wants and our line would be better overall.

 

[WestCoastRam]

Bruss is a complete unknown. What that means is that from a planning perspective you cannot rely on him. Rams will not say "well RG should be good with Bruss" because he did not look like he could handle it then he got hurt. Doesn't matter how much you liked his college film at that point. But he's not eliminated from consideration either because who knows maybe he works his ass off and comes into camp and wins that job or a key depth role.

Boom the problem is he has established over many games that he also cannot be relied upon due to the fact he is made of glass. Great guy I am sure. Team player and all that. But they missed on him. Doesn't matter that he can play any position on the line for us when he gets fucking hurt every time we call on him just about. This is why they will cut bait on him. I'll be very surprised if they don't.

So next year what we're gonna have is Bruss as a depth chart darkhorse at RG. Shelton as a shitty worst case option at RG. And possibly McClendon as a mostly unknown at RG. This requires someone being brought in. Either a mediocre or better FA or a draft pick at OG or a LT draft pick that frees up Jackson to fill RG.

I think calling Bruss a complete unknown is generous. He was cut last year after a horrible injury and repeatedly bad performances in mini camp, training camp and preseason before and after it at both G and tackle spots. Think he was brought back on practice squad (or was it futures player) though. It helps me to think in percentages to accurately gauge things, it's fantastic for decision making, btw and I'd encourage everyone to try it.

I would say the chances of Bruss winning a starting job with this club are at about 3%. The chances of him winning a game day backup job, 5%. The chances of him remaining with this team in any capacity, 15% (I'm assuming here that he could go practice squad again).

I, for one, am putting resources elsewhere with these odds.

Happy to hear other peoples gauge of his chances.

 

[Merlin]

I think calling Bruss a complete unknown is generous.

I think it is more accurate than trying to put a percentage on it.

 

[Allen2McVay]

No A2Mc I don't. Of course there is a limit. 15 or 17 is high but I'd pay it just cause I know what we're getting and keeping the continuity

We Agree.
I'm just suggesting that the Rams may have already offered $17M per-year; and Dotson's reps may have said ... 'Thanks, that's a great offer but we want to wait 12 days to see if there's even a better offer'

If that's the case, the Rams pretty much have to wait until Free Agency to see how things play out.

 

[WestCoastRam]

I think it is more accurate than trying to put a percentage on it.

I'd encourage you to read Thinking In Bets which Snead has incorporated into the Rams scouting and front office decision making process to get a sense of whether what I'm saying provides accuracy or not and the inherent value at play.

It's a safe bet to assume that Snead has used the same logic (though the data he has is greater than anything I have) to put value to Bruss's future contributions. I'd call it 70/30.

(Though, I imagine his percentages could be different than mine.)

 

[dang]

You have been saying that about Havenstein since 2019.

You also did say the Rams would be a playoff team this year ... Good Call.

The Havenstein thing? ... Not so much.

I can’t see the post because I’ve blocked the poster. The obsession and lack of respect for Hav nauseates me. But can we not encourage any poster who posts the same tired bullshit take after take every gd week.

 

[Allen2McVay]

I can’t see the post because I’ve blocked the poster. The obsession and lack of respect for Hav nauseates me. But can we not encourage any poster who posts the same tired bullshit take after take every gd week.

I agree but I don't think I encouraged him. Do you?