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In a mostly depressing day for Bears news, much like the first day of free agency last season, I will go ahead and inject a bit of optimism:
The Rams have been trying to get a long term deal done with their safety Lamarcus Joyner, arguably the top free safety in the NFL this past season, to no avail. Now Ian Rapoport is reporting that the Rams may decide to place the franchise tag on Joyner to keep him...
S Lamarcus Joyner
Projected price: $11.08M (franchise), $9.50M (transition)
Reason for: This might remind some of the Rams' situation last year with cornerback Trumaine Johnson, who was franchised a second time because the team simply could not afford to lose him to the free-agent market at that point in the offseason. The Rams similarly can't afford to lose Joyner. They've lost three key members of their secondary since the end of the 2015 season -- Rodney McLeod, Janoris Jenkins and T.J. McDonald -- and could lose a fourth if Johnson doesn't return. Joyner might be the best of them all. Pro Football Focus made him the third-highest-graded safety in 2017, his first year transitioning away from slot corner. He's small -- listed at 5-foot-8, 190 pounds -- but he hits big and brings great ball skills. A franchise tag makes sense because Joyner is coming off his first year as a full-time defensive player, and one more season in that role would allow the Rams to get a better sense for his fit in the market.
Reason against: Franchising Joyner might mean running the risk of not bringing back Watkins. It also might mean not locking up Joyner long term, and the Rams have appeared willing to do that dating back to last offseason. Joyner's price has risen significantly since then. But in that time, he also fit perfectly into Wade Phillips' system and established himself as the Rams' best defensive player outside of Donald. The highest-paid safeties make somewhere in the neighborhood of $13 million a year, and Joyner has that kind of skill set, small as he might be. In an ideal scenario, the Rams would agree to a long-term deal with Joyner before the start of free agency, on March 14, which would then allow them to use their franchise tag on Watkins if they so choose. But the ideal scenario hardly ever presents itself. And if they don't sense enough willingness from Joyner's side to get something done, they might need to act by burning their franchise tag on him.
Late last year, I did a write up on how Sammy Watkins would fit in the Bears offense, here is the link...
FIXING THE WR POSITION (SAMMY WATKINS)
While he did not have a particularly great season last year, Watkins would seamlessly fit the exact role Ryan Pace envisioned for Kevin White when he drafted him with the #7 overall pick.
The Rams have been trying to get a long term deal done with their safety Lamarcus Joyner, arguably the top free safety in the NFL this past season, to no avail. Now Ian Rapoport is reporting that the Rams may decide to place the franchise tag on Joyner to keep him...
S Lamarcus Joyner
Projected price: $11.08M (franchise), $9.50M (transition)
Reason for: This might remind some of the Rams' situation last year with cornerback Trumaine Johnson, who was franchised a second time because the team simply could not afford to lose him to the free-agent market at that point in the offseason. The Rams similarly can't afford to lose Joyner. They've lost three key members of their secondary since the end of the 2015 season -- Rodney McLeod, Janoris Jenkins and T.J. McDonald -- and could lose a fourth if Johnson doesn't return. Joyner might be the best of them all. Pro Football Focus made him the third-highest-graded safety in 2017, his first year transitioning away from slot corner. He's small -- listed at 5-foot-8, 190 pounds -- but he hits big and brings great ball skills. A franchise tag makes sense because Joyner is coming off his first year as a full-time defensive player, and one more season in that role would allow the Rams to get a better sense for his fit in the market.
Reason against: Franchising Joyner might mean running the risk of not bringing back Watkins. It also might mean not locking up Joyner long term, and the Rams have appeared willing to do that dating back to last offseason. Joyner's price has risen significantly since then. But in that time, he also fit perfectly into Wade Phillips' system and established himself as the Rams' best defensive player outside of Donald. The highest-paid safeties make somewhere in the neighborhood of $13 million a year, and Joyner has that kind of skill set, small as he might be. In an ideal scenario, the Rams would agree to a long-term deal with Joyner before the start of free agency, on March 14, which would then allow them to use their franchise tag on Watkins if they so choose. But the ideal scenario hardly ever presents itself. And if they don't sense enough willingness from Joyner's side to get something done, they might need to act by burning their franchise tag on him.
Late last year, I did a write up on how Sammy Watkins would fit in the Bears offense, here is the link...
FIXING THE WR POSITION (SAMMY WATKINS)
While he did not have a particularly great season last year, Watkins would seamlessly fit the exact role Ryan Pace envisioned for Kevin White when he drafted him with the #7 overall pick.
