Rams PLACE 2nd Round Tender on LT Alaric Jackson

welcome back folks I Jake Ellen Bogan and today we're going to be talking about aler Jackson getting the second round restricted free agent tender what that means and why I'm a big fan of it before we dive into it be sure to like subscribe and comment also be sure to follow me on all social media at JK Bogan now let's get into it so Aller Jackson was tendered at a second rounder uh worth one year 4.89 million for that offer now for those of you who don't understand how these work you can offer a first round tender to a restrictive free agent a second round tender an original round tender and a right of first refusal what the right of first refusal does it's the lowest it costs the least but basically what it allows you to do is match any offer um it gives you that right it it essentially locks them in as restriced free agent if you don't tender a restriced free agent they become a free agent so keep that in mind the next one up on the list is original round tender this would not apply for Aller Jackson because he is a udfa however an original round tender might make sense if you sign somebody um you know you draft somebody in the draft and you know they're in the sixth or seventh round and they can give you a compensatory pick if anyone picks them up because if they sign them and you don't match you get their original round pick I like that a lot then you have the second round tender which is going to be a little bit more than that one um that like I mentioned 4.89 and then of course the first round tender which is in the fives and essentially the difference between the two is that a second rounder you get a second round pick if you choose not to match and a team you know offers them a deal and you know first round tender you get a first round pick so aler Jackson this past year his first year fully starting although he miss two games he gave up one sack he had 39 pressures allowed and he finished the season with a 96.2 efficiency rate in pass protection with three penalties okay here's the deal he played 968 snaps at left tackle this past season so he's only played 1,451 for his career to be fair here there is some risk involved and that is why the Rams if no one decides to match that offer the Rams are sitting pretty there with one year 4.89 million for a guy that I think was the second best tackle on the market um behind you know Tyron Smith and a guy that they haven't seen enough of to give him a long-term deal yet so I do think the Rams want him back obviously they value him that's why they tagged him or they you know they gave him the tender um but let's talk about it because you know I I feel like at the very least having their left tackle locked in let's just say he doesn't get you know claimed or you know no one signs an offer sheet right so the Rams don't have to match anything he is back with the Rams and that's what we see right what that does is I feel like it really locks in that the Rams have a top eight offensive line like I feel really good about their offensive line knowing that Aller Jackson is just about in their back pocket I love the move because it was only 1.5 million more than what they were going to do with the first round the original round tender which I hated because he's a udfa you don't get any compensatory picks for him for that um I I really like the top eight though with um Aller Jackson Jona Jackson then you have Steve ail at Center you have Kevin doson at Right Guard and then you have at right tackle Rob havenstein Mr model of consistency over there so what's the deal here well the Rams offensive line while I think they might be locked in at top eight if Aller Jackson stays there's always a chance in kind of a weaker tackle class I wouldn't rule out the possibility that a team offers aler Jackson a contract they're not scared Away by the the two-year you know the the second um round pick they look at as a guy that's started for the Rams and they're really good and we need a left tackle and that was good enough for Shawn McVey let's see if he's good enough for us so would not rule out that possibility I wouldn't R out the possibility of the Rams deciding to match on a deal um but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of the Rams declining to match because they want that additional second round pick that would be huge to me Aller is a player that they highlighted out of Iowa udfa they highlighted him as a guy that they wanted in the undrafted rookie free agency and they paid him more than any udfa that year out of Iowa they've developed him nicely and he's gone through some injuries including a blood clot uh which he dealt with which cut his 2022 season short he was playing very well Jackson's only 25 years old he's actually incredibly valuable and I don't feel like he gets enough credit so could a long-term deal be in the works I mean my thinking is that the Rams potentially getting him at one year 4.89 million to be their starter this year at a very important position if they can swing that and no one offers him a deal my thinking is the the Rams are going to want to see how the season plays out I've always heard that they really like him but to be fair going back to it again he's played 968 snaps out of the 1,451 that he's played total so 968 of those came this past year okay that is fair to be a little concerned the Rams need to know more before they invest I have no issue with them not offering him you know a contract extension until after the season you have to know and again you know the whole note boom thing going on you don't know how that's going to go you definitely don't want him to just walk out the door but at the same time you don't want to sign him to a long-term deal if you're not comfortable in doing so so my thoughts are this I'm actually really excited for the draft regardless if Aller Jackson's back or not because I think the Rams have an opportunity to pick up a franchise Cornerstone left tackle whether it is Joe Al via trade-up um of course you know fashanu from Penn State and if God forbid if tal fuaga um if fuaga can actually play uh left tackle I'm not against that he's my number one tackle you wouldn't know it because I've been pounding in the stump for alt but it's because I feel like alt has that connection like I've already mentioned but also I know he can play left tackle and I know he wants to play left tackle and that is his position to be fair I also know amarius Mims he's going to be potentially an option I think the Rams really need to be careful here there's a thing of being too comfortable and I like Aller a lot I've talked to him before on social media media seems like a really nice guy but at the same time if Alec Jackson gets a crazy deal you take the second rounder all day okay you do not put yourself in a position where you are now reaching you are now chasing what you don't need to be chasing my thought process is that aler Jackson is good enough to start in the NFL he's 25 and could have some serious upside but if you have an opportunity to to draft one of these really really talented offensive linemen I think you got to really consider that and I think it works perfectly because say you get a guy like Joe Walt and you have aler Jackson on a oneyear $4.8 89 million deal based on the tender the tender goes through no one offers no one like the ram don't have to match anything so he is the starter going into the draft the Rams have an opportunity say the Titans just picked up Tyron Smith in the off season so they no longer feel like they have to draft a tackle so what they do is they get on the phone and lesne makes another trade with the Titans to move up and select the first first round pick since jarro GF when they moved up with the Titans and they go up and they get Joe alt or fashanu what happens if they do that and they have Alec Jackson on a one-year deal worth 4.89 million they have Jackson on a bargain they have not boom okay in all all honesty it looks like not boom is going to be back he's reworking his deal we'll see what happens but I feel good about it but my the importance here and the thing that I want to really just push here is that aler Jackson is no he's not guaranteed a starting role being paid below 5 million a year I mean tackles make a lot of money starting tackles make a lot of money so it's not like he'd be making 20 million and you're like well crap we got a we got Joe alal but he's going to have to sit if joal wins that in Camp which he would or fashanu then Aller Jackson would be a very very good backup and you'd have him on a one-year deal and God forbid he doesn't want to come back he's on a one-year deal there's no dead money it's over no strings attached so that's why this move is so great it gives him so many Avenues here so many Avenues of flexibility first off aler Jackson can be your starter second Aller Jackson can be a really good backup third aler Jackson can net you a second round pick and fourth Alec Jackson can end up being your franchise tackle who you bring in you know you bring back on this restricted tender and he ends up being so great that you decide to sign him to a long-term deal and the last one is not ideal but you reach for the stars and you decide you know what we've developed him this team's offering him a lot of money and we're not really in position to do it but we're not going to let him go so we're going to bid against ourselves okay that's my least favorite option but there's a lot of options here it's why I like this move it's why I was so annoyed when I heard you know rumors that the Rams were just going to give him an original round tender I'm glad Jordan rodrig cleared that up and said look this thing is not decided yet it is now a second round tender and thank God because what that does is now it makes you think twice if you really want Aller Jackson you better bring it because you not only have to pay him you also have to give up a second round pick you're essentially trading for Aller Jackson and you have to pay it's like a franchise tag and giving up a second rounder would be quite the Steep price that I don't think anybody's going to do and again somebody did it I think you might have to really consider that I think you might have to take that um but in all honesty the Rams really can't lose in this situation um and as much as I like Aller Jackson he's only had one year fully starting he could be really good but this draft class is crazy good at left tackle those are my thoughts I like this move this is one of my favorite moves because it's logical it's a no-brainer it's you know thinking with your head and just being willing to pay just 1.5 million more to scare away potential customers if they come knocking and they want to steal your your prize and to me aler Jackson may not start right but at 1. 1489 million on the year okay or sorry 4.89 million for one year if you get him at that rate that is one of the best rates in the entire league left tackle that's what you need to know so those are my thoughts be sure to drop yours in the comment section below follow me on all social media at JK Bogan be sure to subscribe and uh I'll see you guys in the next one take care folks later do you love talking about the Rams the NFL or just want to be a part of a community join my free Discord server today we're over 800 members we got 247 live chat a level three boosted server the ability to call into J live playing online games with us on kick streams toggleable alerts for when I go live on YouTube or kick so you don't miss a live stream and exclusive giveaways click the link in the description the comment section or the link that comes up in the video to learn more and join today