Rams will have tough time choosing which 2023 free agents to retain

[ROD-BOT]

Rams will have tough time choosing which 2023 free agents to retain

Matt Gay, A’Shawn Robinson, Greg Gaines, are all slated to hit unrestricted free agency

www.turfshowtimes.com

Rams will have tough time choosing which 2023 free agents to retain​

The 2022 season for the Los Angeles Rams will come to a close when the game clock winds down this weekend against the Seattle Seahawks. Sean McVay’s Rams team will finish with double digit losses for the first time in the young coach’s career - within 365 days of the Rams winning Super Bowl LVI and hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.

The conclusion of the season will not big closure for fans in Los Angeles - instead it’s the start of offseason speculation. The Rams will need to make changes if they want to be back in the contention conversation in 2023, but it’s absolutely possible with a clean bill of health and tweaks in certain spots on the roster.

The first, and perhaps the most significant, challenge the Rams will face this offseason is choosing between their unrestricted free agents with little salary cap to spare.

Matt Gay has proven over the last few seasons that he deserves to be mentioned among the best kickers in the NFL. Can the Rams afford to pay a kicker $5-6M annually when Troy Hill or Nick Scott could realistically be expected to have a similar valuation?

A’Shawn Robinson has established himself as a premier run defender along the interior defensive line, and as a former second round pick he will have plenty of suitors on the open market. Perhaps Greg Gaines can be kept in Los Angeles at a lessor price but similar production - and he offers a bit more juice as a pass rusher.

Rams 2023 unrestricted free agents:
Baker Mayfield, QB
A’Shawn Robinson, DT
Greg Gaines, DT
Troy Hill, CB
Matt Gay, K
David Edwards, OG/OT
Nick Scott, DB
Taylor Rapp, DB
Ty Nsekhe, OT
Oday Aboushi, OG
Brandon Powell, WR/KR
Riley Dixon, P
Matt Skura, OG/OC
Malcolm Brown, RB
David Long, CB
Matt Orzech, LS
Travin Howard, MLB

 

[RamDino]

As many have stated, the only three I would want to sign immediately are Greg Gaines, Matt Gay, and Ty Nsekhe (should be cheap). I would try to bring back Nick Scott, David Edwards, and Brandon Powell but that is after they get their value on the open market and the Rams could consider matching it if it is reasonable. Hopefully we get good comp picks from Ashawn Robinson and Baker Mayfield's new contracts. But then again, I am usually wrong.

 

[So Ram]

As many have stated, the only three I would want to sign immediately are Greg Gaines, Matt Gay, and Ty Nsekhe (should be cheap). I would try to bring back Nick Scott, David Edwards, and Brandon Powell but that is after they get their value on the open market and the Rams could consider matching it if it is reasonable. Hopefully we get good comp picks from Ashawn Robinson and Baker Mayfield's new contracts. But then again, I am usually wrong.

Very logical though.Hard call

 

[I like Rams]

Baker, Gaines, Scott, Gay, Edwards, and Powell are my guys on the list to keep. And of course if we still have the funds A'Shawn deserves to be on that list, but I think he will be priced out. We have already seen what our team looks like without those guys contributing, and it's not good.

I know some people are down on Edward's, but alot of people were down on Hav in 2019 and wanted him gone. That obviously would have been stupid. I'll consider this a down year for Edward's, as he's been pretty good everyother year.

 

[OnceARam]

What's our salary cap, $1.50?

 

[PARAM]

Rams 2023 unrestricted free agents:
Baker Mayfield, QB
A’Shawn Robinson, DT
Greg Gaines, DT
Troy Hill, CB
Matt Gay, K
David Edwards, OG/OT
Nick Scott, DB
Taylor Rapp, DB
Ty Nsekhe, OT
Oday Aboushi, OG
Brandon Powell, WR/KR
Riley Dixon, P
Matt Skura, OG/OC
Malcolm Brown, RB
David Long, CB
Matt Orzech, LS
Travin Howard, MLB

A'Shawn, Gaines, Gay, Scott and Powell. Anybody else after that? Mayfield?

 

[I like Rams]

What's our salary cap, $1.50?

Snead: "hold my beer..."

 

[Ram Ts]

Matt Gay is the tough decision one. He’s fantastic and you don’t want to lose such a great kicker. But how do you justify spending that much of our cap when we have so little. I fear that this will be one we gotta let go - even though we don’t want to at all. Man Snead is gonna have to earn his salary this off-season with so many big roster decisions ahead.

 

[PARAM]

The money is too much? The article says "he deserves to be considered among the top kickers in the league, so can they afford to pay him 5- 6 mil per?" It doesn't say "he's asking for 5-6.mil". Lutz is 8th highest and he makes 3.7. Fairnbairn is #10 and makes 3.6 mil. 5-6 mil would be better than Transition Tag money. I wouldn't give Gay top 5 kicker money but I would give him a multi year contract with a salary that grows over the contract. Security counts, especially for a PK.

 

[So Ram]

Matt Gay is the tough decision one. He’s fantastic and you don’t want to lose such a great kicker. But how do you justify spending that much of our cap when we have so little. I fear that this will be one we gotta let go - even though we don’t want to at all. Man Snead is gonna have to earn his salary this off-season with so many big roster decisions ahead.

Believe me,it won’t be Les Snead who makes those choices. Sean Mcvay has his hands on it all.
When it comes to who The Rams
will bring back it’s Mcvay who has built those relationships.Even before then he will have his coaching staff in place & that will work itself out in the next couple of weeks.

 

[Angry Ram]

Don't care about monies, but i feel like you can easily replace guys like Nick Scott vs. finding consistent and reliable kickers. Hopefully they try to keep him and Greg.

I wouldnt worry if they didnt resign most of that list.

 

[Reddog99]

Priority to me are one of Gaines or Robinson, Gay, Powell, Hill and one of Nsekhi and Oboushi. Priority after that would be guys like Edwards, Orzech, Scott and Dixon. I know some are down on Hill but I think he likes playing for the Rams and if he agrees to a fair pay then I think it's in the best interest of our secondary to keep him.

 

[kurtfaulk]

.

what's funny is the rams pushed a lot of cap money into next season so they could run it back this season.

talk about a plan going pear shaped very quickly.

.

 

[Merlin]

So many non-difference makers on that list. There will be very little hand wringing with them.

 

[BonifayRam]

What's our salary cap, $1.50?

2023 NFL Team Salary Cap Tracker

A real-time look at the 2023 salary cap totals for each NFL team, including estimated cap space.

www.spotrac.com

$-3,051,153 in the RED

How will Rams create cap space in 2023?

What moves will Les Snead make to give the Rams more wiggle room next year?

www.turfshowtimes.com

$-3.4 million in the red.

 

[Merlin]

Only guys who are worth keeping IMO:

Matt Gay, K... Key FA. This one has to get done to avoid kicker purgatory.

Baker Mayfield, QB... Key FA. But will he get a big offer.

Greg Gaines, DT... Likely to get big offer. Rams simply cannot afford to pay him with AD making that much.

The rest of them are basically JAGs for purposes of our roster. Which is to say many are fine to keep around but they must be cheap.

 

[BonifayRam]

Ranking the Rams' top 10 unrestricted free agents: Who stays, who goes?

Can the Rams bring back A'Shawn Robinson and Greg Gaines? What about kicker Matt Gay and what happens with Baker Mayfield?

theathletic.com

This spring, Los Angeles will be faced with several tough decisions about where to beef up its roster, and which players will depart. Their roster is top-heavy via star personnel and also financially, but the Rams also need to improve their depth in several areas. Their top need now — and every single day until they get it fixed — is a pass rusher, but they’ll also do some maneuvering within their offensive line, defensive line and secondary where the bulk of their free agents are.

It’s important to remember that part of the Rams’ offseason calculus depends on most of their free agents, especially those with starting experience, signing elsewhere in free agency in order to net compensatory picks. That will be no different this spring, minus a couple of exceptions (and depending on the markets of these players). The Rams consistently rank among the top few teams in the NFL in returning compensatory picks year after year.

The Rams’ top 10 unrestricted free agents (UFAs) are as follows:

Rams' top free agents

PLAYER	AGE	POSITION
A'Shawn Robinson	28	DL
Greg Gaines	27	DL
Matt Gay	29	Kicker
Baker Mayfield	28	QB
Coleman Shelton	28	Guard/center
David Edwards	26	Guard
Nick Scott	28	Safety
Taylor Rapp	26	Safety
David Long	27	CB
Brandon Powell	28	WR/KR/RB

1. A’Shawn Robinson, DL​

A’Shawn Robinson is one of the best run defenders in the NFL who isn’t named Aaron Donald. His 38 tackles on designed rush plays through Week 11 (when he was healthy) were tied for fourth-best among NFL defensive linemen … with Donald.

Robinson tore his meniscus in the Rams’ Week 11 game at New Orleans and missed the rest of the season, but is on track for a fully healthy offseason, a person with knowledge of Robinson’s rehab process said. Robinson’s free agency market may be too high for the Rams, but they’d also net a higher compensatory pick because of that.

2. Greg Gaines, DL​

Greg Gaines wasn’t a high producer in the pass rush in 2022 but like Robinson held it down against the run despite playing much of the season with elbow, shoulder and bicep injuries. Also like Robinson, Gaines is a good tandem player with Donald because of the way he occupies space and works with Donald’s creativity post-snap.

The Rams can currently afford to re-sign one of their starting defensive linemen, but not both. They also can’t afford to lose both players without bringing in serious reinforcements, but many league insiders believe the defensive tackle market will spike up this spring.

3. Matt Gay, kicker​

Matt Gay missed two field goals all year, both from over 50 yards, and only one extra point. He went 21 for 21 on kicks between 20-49 yards and hit 7-of-9 kicks from 50-plus yards with 31-of-32 extra points. Before signing Gay during the 2020 season, the Rams had hemorrhaged kickers and have also since rotated through two special teams coordinators. Gay has given the entire group stability, but he’ll definitely have a market this spring and whether the Rams want to be competitive in it is unclear.

4. Baker Mayfield, QB​

Baker Mayfield’s free agency market is an unknown curiosity. The Rams were his lone claim off of waivers ahead of Week 14, and after the high of a historic comeback win against the Raiders settled, Mayfield was inconsistent (though notably more effective as a player when he had a solid run game). He reiterated after the Rams’ season-ending loss in Seattle that he believes he is a starting quarterback, but will a team make him one again? Meanwhile, the Rams liked working with him (the feeling was mutual) and they’re hunting for a new backup quarterback.

Not sure why they have center Coleman Shelton on this list other than he can depart into UFA if he desires.

 

[BonifayRam]

Only 2 Rams make PFF's top 100 free agents list​

Only 2 Rams make PFF's top 100 free agents list

According to PFF, the Rams only have 2 of the 100 best free agents hitting the market this year

theramswire.usatoday.com

 

[Loyal]

Only guys who are worth keeping IMO:

Matt Gay, K... Key FA. This one has to get done to avoid kicker purgatory.

Baker Mayfield, QB... Key FA. But will he get a big offer.

Greg Gaines, DT... Likely to get big offer. Rams simply cannot afford to pay him with AD making that much.

The rest of them are basically JAGs for purposes of our roster. Which is to say many are fine to keep around but they must be cheap.

Cheap bastid! ~ Nick Scott

 

[Loyal]

Only 2 Rams make PFF's top 100 free agents list​

Only 2 Rams make PFF's top 100 free agents list

According to PFF, the Rams only have 2 of the 100 best free agents hitting the market this year

theramswire.usatoday.com

I can't believe Greg Gaines isn't on that list. I think he and Gay are the two most valuable to re-sign.