No packing tape, no moving vans, no hotel rooms. In contrast to last year, this is a calm offseason for the Rams, but that doesn’t mean they can relax. After a 4-12 season, there are no merits upon which to rest.
The only relocation this spring is that of new coach Sean McVay and his staff to Southern California, but there are plenty of moves to be made. It will be fascinating to see how aggressive McVay, the youngest coach in the NFL’s modern era, acts, both on and off the field as he attempts to revitalize the Rams.
McVay and General Manager Les Snead quickly must make decisions about their young, inconsistent group of players. Will they make wholesale roster changes, or look to complement the core, which is led by players such as Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, Aaron Donald and Alec Ogletree?
The Rams clearly need a lot of work, and this is how their checklist of offseason duties looks:
1. FINALIZE COACHING STAFF
This is almost done. The Rams have yet to hire an offensive coordinator, but that’s not going to be a huge job on this team. McVay, formerly the offensive coordinator in Washington, announced last month that he will call offensive plays, so the coordinator will be more of a support man for McVay.
Landing veteran defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was the big move, and the Rams already have agreed on terms with most of the assistant coaches who will fill out McVay’s staff. Returning assistants John Fassel (special teams) and Skip Peete (running backs) will provide some continuity.
Assistant coaches Greg Olson (quarterbacks), Eric Yarber (receivers), Shane Waldron (tight ends), Aaron Kromer (offensive line), Bill Johnson (defensive line), Joe Barry (linebackers) and Aubrey Pleasant (secondary) are expected to join the Rams, but the team has not yet announced the hirings.
Moreover, the Rams must finalize a team of behind-the-scenes folks – trainers, video people, etc. – who keep the team running, and McVay will have his own ideas about how these jobs should be executed.
2. DESIGNATE A FRANCHISE PLAYER
Every offseason, each NFL team can designate a “franchise” player, one who is set to become a free agent. That player then stays with his current team under a (big-money) one-year contract.
This might be an easy, but expensive, choice for the Rams. Top cornerback Trumaine Johnson, is set to become an unrestricted free agent, and there’s no indication that the Rams and Johnson are close on a contract extension, so the franchise tag could be used on Johnson for a second consecutive year.
A player who is “tagged” a second time is due an automatic salary increase of 20 percent, so Johnson’s 2017 contract would be worth $16.74 million. That’s steep, but given how hard the Rams have worked to build their front-seven depth, they must complement it with a solid secondary.
3. SKIM THE FREE-AGENT POOL
That’s not to say the Johnson franchise-tag decision is automatic.
The Rams’ potential free agents include two of their top defensive backs (Johnson and safety T.J. McDonald) and two of their top receivers (Kenny Britt and Brian Quick), so McVay and Snead must weigh which players will be easier to either re-sign or replace.
The Rams need big help at receiver. Britt had a 1,000-yard season but isn’t consistent. Same goes for Tavon Austin. Quick showed flashes of brilliance but also had terrible issues with drops.
Washington receiver DeSean Jackson played under McVay and is a Southern California native. That signing would be big for the Rams, but even if they don’t land Jackson, receiver is a priority position.
4. MAXIMIZE DRAFT PICKS
A popular narrative is that the Rams gutted their potential draft picks when they traded up to No. 1 last year and selected Jared Goff. That’s not really the case at all.
Yes, the Rams lack a first-round pick this year – they sent it to Tennessee last February as part of the package that allowed them to move up from No. 15 to No. 1 – but the Rams aren’t light on picks.
The Rams will have the fifth pick of the second round (No. 37 overall), and while they owe the Titans a third-round pick this year, there’s also good news there. The Rams likely will receive a compensatory pick, which they will send to Tennessee and thus retain their third-round pick (No. 69 overall).
The Rams are set to have at least six draft picks, and they need to do better than last year. The Rams used four picks on receivers or tight ends, and none of them played a major role in 2016.
5. BUILD SOME CHEMISTRY
It’s not all about the roster. The Rams had become stale under former coach Jeff Fisher, who desperately tried to project the image that the team was improving and that he should keep his job.
McVay is here because the Rams need energy and a culture change. NFL rules restrict the contact that teams can have with players before the start of offseason workouts in April, but McVay is already working – even through exuberant media interviews – to set a tone for the spring.
The Rams, as a team with a new head coach, are allowed to start their offseason program early (April 3) in Thousand Oaks, and that will be an important time, not only for player-coach chemistry but to learn totally new offensive and defensive schemes.
Contact the writer: rhammond@scng.com
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