Rams SIGN Jonah Jackson, Colby Parkinson on DAY 1 of NFL Free Agency

Intro what's up everybody welcome back to another episode of rams Brothers I'm your host Dean and I'm joined as always by my brother and the other great host of this show Nick and Nick the rams's free agency frenzy has begun they've already added two players they've resigned a couple of players already to their current roster but first and most importantly how are you my good brother I'm good I'm gonna do something that Dean always forgets to Doh at the beginning of the episode like And subscribe uh appreciate all you guys watching if you are a big fan you can always buy the merch which if you're watching on YouTube is below us at the YouTube shop you get cool hats like this Ram's hat that I'm wearing right now and I appreciate all you guys yeah make sure you guys like And subscribe we got a lot of fun content coming up in relation to free agency this is just day one of free agency frenzy for the Rams and it continues all the way until March 13th where they can continue to legally tamper and then it'll continue all through then and then all through the draft we'll have you guys covered um so some fun stuff coming up and I I wanted to kick off this episode from a quote from our dad just because the rams's organization is moving in a certain direction and you can kind of feel it coming out of last season so this quote I felt like was really important just to kick off the episode to see the Rams jump out and make two deals quickly is an indication of a specific game plan that lesne and Sean McVey have been building since the day after the playoff loss against the Lions trust them implicitly that's how I feel about the organization right now and the first couple of moves resigning Demarcus Robinson to a one-year deal tendering Aller Jackson tendering Ronnie Rivers making two additions Kevin doson obviously signing a big deal as an as a a free agent and then looking at Jonah Jackson um and kobby Parkinson so like two big- time ads but I feel like just Rams Signings to kick us off the way that they tendered Aller Jackson and Ronnie Rivers gives us a pretty good indication that both of those guys are going to be back so the tender level has still yet to be determined for both players so that is still TBD coming out of this week I mentioned Demarcus Robinson he resigned for a oneyear $5 million deal the Kevin doson signing was fantastic a threeyear $48 million deal in terms of the market the way that it shakes out an insanely good deal because it happened prior to him even hitting the open market he's only a $12 million cap hit this season but his average salary per year is 16 million which was right in line with a lot of the top guards in the league prior to the Market opening up and right now this guard Market is on fire like Howie Roseman and the Philadelphia Eagles just made Landon Dickerson the highest paid guard in NFL history giving him 21 million doll per year Robert hunt also got a bag he got 20 million per year it's an absolute bargain for a great player who is a vocal leader up front it's an unbelievable job by the rams' front office to be able to bring in this player Kobe Parkinson signed a three-year deal 20 22.5 million and Jonah Jackson also looking comparison into Kevin Dawson's contract actually is up $3 million in terms of totals so a lot is happening um and in terms of free agency the way that everything is starting to shake out they prioritizing upfront they're prioritizing the interior and tight end talent and just being able to continue to um to run this Duo scheme as well as they've been able to do and also continue to protect Matthew Stafford so three big deals right off the table to kick us off in free agency and I would think the majority of Rams Fans are happy despite the fact that these aren't necessarily splashy signings I think the fact that they're not big splashes leads you to believe that there is a plan in place to move forward like the way they got everything done fast they know what they want to do they know who they want to be they want to be able to make sure that Matthew Stafford can stand upright for these you know coming two to three years that are going to be his Twilight years his final you know his final frontier in the NFL so it it feels like everything that they're doing is to have their window be absolutely wide open right now and and I mean I feel like everybody's just saying it already so Steve agula probably is going to be moved to Center I mean that was the internal chatter about him when he was drafted is to you know later in in his career to move into that Center role uh so yeah he played two full seasons at Center at TCU so it's not something that is you know different and unique for him to step into so it should be a seamless transition hopefully it it's I think it's definitely going to be because he's left-handed you think of Coleman Shelton you know you make that transition so much easier because he's left-handed but he also fully understands how the offense functions and instead of bringing in a rookie or a free agent who has to learn it from scratch Nick to your point that is a seamless transition like Steve Ula was perfect he played every single snap from left guard to be able to transition him over to Center makes perfect sense and then you have this interior uh just Monster force of of all of these talented players up front and it's it's it's a way to prioritize the offensive line without paying you know a top tier tackle or going out and you know eventually having to draft one which they probably still will do I think it's a really good way to just continue to evolve the duo scheme and like I mentioned protect Matthew Stafford it's it's just a great thing all the way around for the organization and the Jonah Jackson thing actually kind of Sparks the conversation with Steve Ula moving to Center too because that three-year deal you're looking at Jonah Jackson you're like okay $51 million it looks like it's guard money 3 million of that is going to be guaranteed and it's more that they gave than than they gave to Kevin doson and if he's not one of the top guard options in the market this year he was probably number one maybe the top option in total um since 2022 like Jonah Jackson 928 pass blocking snaps 53 quarterback pressures allowed only two sacks allowed and 928 pass blocking snaps this is a really talented player that you just added to your roster and it it seems like um the way that they're prioritizing it is is all the the right way um and I I just I I respect the front office for being able to kind of look inside look within the organization and say this is really where we've benefited over the last year let's go ahead move full force and bring in some more Talent at that position and then I mean to spin that into just more protection for Stafford bring in a six7 252 pound uh Colby Parkinson 25-year-old in Colby Parkinson who is going to be able to like you know be this stopper on the front line and also hopefully be able to make some plays it's not I feel like that's not entirely what they're looking for out of him but an immediate Tyler Higby replacement 100% because he's out for like three weeks I think to start at least to start yeah you're thinking Tyler Higby and Hunter long probably both going to start the season on ir and thanks to Shane Waldren in Seattle this player Kobe Parkinson is really familiar with a lot of the rams' concepts up up front you talked about the seis Nick he's from Stanford he has really really mean intentions in the Run game he also brings that special teams ability and experience that the Rams are looking for they don't have a ton of that on their roster right now so that's an immediate stop gap for that kind of position and Hill like when you kind of bring that stuff to the table you don't have that in Bryson Hopkins who it doesn't seem like they're going to prioritize and resigning without Tyler Higg and Hunter long who else is there so this Kobe Parkinson player grew up what five minutes from The rams's Practice Facility currently the rams' current practice facility so he's a California Kid he's very very familiar um with the rams's organization obviously having to play them two times a year over the past couple of years so and like again you're prioritizing the Run game you're prioritizing the offensive line it's like what we've been asking for all this time and you know the way that the sh the salary cap kind of shakes out it's not going to leave you a ton of flexibility unless you look to restructure a couple of players um but that's kind of the name of the game is is making sure you prioritize the things that you need to focus on and I think the Rams are doing that right now I wonder if they're going to try to come back to the table with with Matthew Stafford because apparently all of the talks was after they won the Super Bowl they were trying to restructure to go back in that following year and he was saying no like you know I did what you asked me to do we won the Super Bowl in the four first year I'm not going to take any less you know money guaranteed so you know maybe now being for with with the organization a little longer showing him that we are prioritizing making sure that you stay healthy with who we are signing maybe there's a chance that there's some restructuring there but who's to say I mean it would be fantastic to hear that yeah so it's all great points so as doson signing occurred they before it happened 41 million in total cap so as it stands right now after the doson signing minus $12 million off the Caps you're at 29 million total and that's prior to Jonah Jackson and and Colby Parkinson signing so you have to take consideration the draft class and the estimated cost that might be affiliated with bringing on 11 picks even though they don't have to use all 11 picks you could trade up you trade back whatever it looks like and they have a first rounder that you have to take into consideration too so it doesn't leave a ton of room and you know that the Rams kind of like to carry around a small amount of salary cap throughout the season so I feel like you could see them do something like that this year but it leaves the door open for restructures it Joe Noom Matthew Stafford uh I mean and Sean McVey have been really really vocal about Joe no it was reported by Jordan a couple of days ago that a heavy contractor structure keeping no boom in the sixthman role is very very much on the table so that'll create roughly n a. half million do10 million if you can restructure Joe noboom Ernest Jones is another option to be able to extend which would then create more cap space obviously for this season not for future Seasons but for this year definitely and then Aaron Donal Aaron Donald's contract situation is still fairly unknown um it's they're definitely not going to ask him to take less money which I would never do to Aaron Donald ever um but you know you see the Chris Jones contract you see some of the other players I'm trying to think who else just got a ton of money on the interior um yeah you look at Bose's deals like Aaron Donald's you know might eventually want to contract restructure and the other Bosa might blow up the market I mean Nick BOS already blew it up with 34 and a half million per year at Edge I don't I don't see Joey getting more than that um I think Nick Bose is kind of the threshold for Edge players right now and then Chris Jones and Aaron Donald are are right below interior it's like 31 a half mil per year for those kind of players so it's it's really Salary Cap interesting like the way that the salary cap shakes out right now like you could see how much money is currently allocated to the offense versus the defense we've talked about this in previous episodes as of right now the offense is getting 164 million and Counting without the Colby Parkinson and Jonah Jackson additions the defense is at 5 7.4 million and Seattle Rams actually tweeted at us today and he said 65% of that has to be Aaron Donald right like a large percentage of the money on defense is 100% focused just on Aaron Donald um so the way that they're going to kind of split out the cap and you kind of look to address in free agency before restructures it's going to be really really difficult um so you know I think when you kind of look at these two things side by side you did a great job so far in free agency on day one to kick us off getting a lot meaner in the trenches um and then you look at the other side like okay it's probably time to start addressing the defense um whether you do that continued in free agency look at the edge position opposite of Byron young you could address that in free agency and the draft once you open up some more salary cap cornerback you could address that earlier on in the draft safety you know you're gonna have to look to address that with Jordan Fuller and John Johnson on their way out and then tackle with Aller Jackson being tendered and Rob havenstein aging might have to address that later on in the draft and then obviously there's kicker so all of these these players right now are testing the market um I would like to just get a feel for what you're thinking as you just kind of look at this list there's obviously some more players on the bottom tier but these are kind of the top tier based on offense and defense what we're looking at for free agents my first thought was oh yeah Carson Wentz is the guy on this list that I would want to prioritize bringing back unless a Kell Withers spin wants to sign a one-year cheap veteran deal but wanted to get your thoughts on on the way that this looks right now I think if went if that one game was enough to prove that he could get more money somewhere else then go for it I I think you can get another guy similar to him that can do what he does um but hopefully that wasn't enough to bring in you know all these suitors for Carson Wentz and he can come back on like a team-friendly backup deal because I mean that's the that's what that's what I want to see from them right now I don't I I do not want them to worry about the quarterback position outside of those two maybe get somebody super late you know if you like some like some kind of like really super late round guy but I don't want to see anything in the top four picks um but yeah it's Royce Freeman I would love to have back well you got Ronnie Rivers's back right a tender but you liked Royce Freeman was good last year too and can run well in the duo scheme and you kind of need three heads right because if one of those players goes down you have to be able to rely on that because you don't want to have to be in a situation where you have to bring back Daryl Henderson remember again yeah we had nobody we were like all right well Daryl Henderson's the only player that understands the offense at all and we need a running back for next week like let's read between the lines Theo who could it be he scored I think he scored like three touchdowns I think I definitely on Nick's picks I had him to score a touchdown yeah he had over 25 touches and at least a couple of touchdowns it was it was tough like those those games like that he had those impacts they ended up losing but they they was like close I remember being like wow Daryl Henderson's gonna be on on a winning team again yeah but just that graphic of the allocated money for the offense and the defense it does make you think with these free agent signings that they will not trade out of the position that they're in in in the first round and they will use it to find good defensive Talent which is what I'm hoping for at this point Anything Could Happen they could fall in love with a beautiful tight end or you know like a really great weapon that's not really what I I'm hoping that they do I would love yeah exactly rad uh Rome but yeah it's they're gonna do what they're gonna do and if they think a player like that is more important and to score a lot of points and he's going to help them do that then that's what they're going to do and they're going to continue to ride the offense momentum and Trust in the genius that they have um in that you know in Shawn mcfay that he will make amazing drawn up plays for these for these great players and kind of just trust that the defense doesn't screw it Defense up well you know what's so interesting about the defense like you look at the last year and they only wanted to utilize talent that was younger outside of Aaron Donald you know you have a couple of Veteran stop gaps and Kell Withers Spin and John Johnson but for the the large majority these are all homegrown talent that are starting on defense for the Rams Ernest Jones and Byron young and Kobe Turner and dcoe Durant um and let's so Kendrick Darion Kendrick like there's a lot of players within the organization already that have spent good time on the field have taken a lot of snaps and understand the core Essentials of the defense even if it might shift a little bit under Chris schula it feels like the direction right now in the draft is going to be heavily focused on the defense because of how well the young defense was able to step up um in rahee Morris's final year as defense coordinator under the Rams like you could just see that the way the salary cap has broken up it's like the I thought the writing was on the wall that they were going to add an edge free agent just because of how unbalanced they go from offense to defense but like you can carry over some of the great things that happened last year and put a defense a quality product on the field that is focused around Aaron Donald and a lot of young Talent so yeah I like I said I hope they prioritize defense it it would be strange if there is zero drop off on just straight up from schula to Morris it like I it it will happen I think at least to start so if you factor that in it really makes you think I okay I really want them to either bring in Edge like proven Edge help or exclusively worry about filling your needed holes in the draft and you know we'll see what happens but there may be a little Panic instilling filling your needed holes pause pause yeah pause for dramatic hole effect I know where you're going though because like I don't I just you look at the defense there's some stop gaps that you can make like you can add a one-year veteran free agent but like I think you have to restructure some players before you go out and make any more moves because they don't really have any salary cap to play with right now you look at Kobe Parkinson and Jonah Jackson being added to that $29 million total plus the draft you're probably going to be walking around with maybe seven or eight million dollars in your back pocket to be able to add a player and that's not a denal hunter that's not a Brian Burns you know that's not a Josh alen you would have to restructure you'd have to restructure Joe Noom and you'd have to maybe restructure Matthew staford or extend Earnest Jones in order to be able to do some of those things so those moves shouldn't be expected anymore because of what happen today until we get an indication that they're going to restructure somebody or extens which which I bet at 2:18 p.m on Monday March 11th they are trying to do that right now I would imagine as the episode is being recorded that there is another move being worked on at this very moment but nothing nothing that's happening right now some crazy free agent moves have happened today I mean you I was gonna ask Market but what like outside of the Rams what what was your favorite free agency move so far it had to be has to be Kirt cousins it yeah it has to be yeah just because it it was so exciting I think uh the Eagles also added Bryce Huff which was another one of my favorite moves too just because of how talented of a player he is and that pass rush is ridiculous I think they also added saquon Barkley so you know a couple of really fun splashy moves that have happened throughout the league um I but I think Kirk Cousins to Atlanta with all that talent and Raheem Morris like you know might have to move over Detroit Lions in terms of to teams that we you know root for on the side Atlanta Falcons may have to be that number two priority it it's just really funny that Kirk Cousins fit Minnesota so well the Kohl's cash king like it he is Minnesota to go to Atlanta it just it's a total total like it weird Bizarro situ just he's going to look weird in that black I know but rahee Morris brought over half of the rams's offensive staff and Kirk Cousins operates under Kevin O'Connell's offense and Kevin oconnell came from Shawn mcfay so yeah I think there gonna be zero drop off in Kirk's ability I think he's gonna be fantastic for them next year Mayfield is is gulping right now yeah Baker Mayfield with a new the100 million doll deal Kirk Cousins in Atlanta uh the Packers and Jordan love are bolstering up a little bit I think they just added Josh Jacobs on offense so like yeah there's some fun happening in um the Rams are probably going to continue investing it's just a matter of a couple things happening before that happens but Nick as you mentioned before the episode started make sure that you [Music] guys more good stuff coming your guys's way as the moves unfold we will be here and we love you guys and go Rams go Rams thanks for listening everybody peace talk soon