RedAlice":6fyb7gsz said:
The Rams technically have $100m. But, that is before many players are paid.
Exactly, which is why the claim that this is a one-year shot and the team is going to have to be blown up because of it is so wrong.
Last year the Seahawks brought in rentals to try to supplement around their stars who were all on the back end of their second contracts. They pushed right up against the cap and didn't have cap room moving forward, so no matter what happened, they were a year or two off from having to blow things up, and they chose to do so this year instead of next.
The Rams on the other hand, are bringing in more pieces to supplement their stars who are still on their first contracts, and they've got nothing but cap room moving forward.
I guess one could complain that they're mortgaging the future with this by giving away draft picks, but I think that's wrong for two reasons:
1) Like other smart teams who are on the cutting edge of how to play this (Eagles, and Pats) the Rams have realized that we're well past the flat cap era in which draft picks were gold, and now that the cap is jumping every year draft picks have become overvalued and mid- and late-career talent is now undervalued. With the cap going up by 10 million a year you can basically bring in vet reinforcements and keep your team together as much as you want to.
2) Because they're trading for players they still have two third round comp picks coming back to them next year (they'll have four picks in the first three rounds next year), and it's not like they're without any draft picks this year either (they're sitting out day one, but they still have a 3rd, three 4ths, and four 6ths -- that's eight depth and develop guys coming in behind the stars they've landed).