A new Rams coaching staff seems ready to give Greg Robinson another chance. Despite being benched late in a woeful third season, the underwhelming tackle remains a “big part” of the Rams’ plans going forward, Sean McVay said.
“When you see some of the things he’s able to do, you see the athleticism in space when he’s pulling around and using some of those perimeter schemes that they did offensively last year,” McVay said, via Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com. “He’s a guy that we’re excited to get around.”
Gonzalez notes a possible course of action prior to McVay’s vote of confidence was simply moving on from Robinson, the No. 2 overall pick in 2014. Cutting Robinson, though, would not make much sense financially given that the team would not save any money — while incurring $6.77MM in dead money — by doing so. McVay did not specify whether he wants Robinson to remain at tackle or move to guard, a topic broached during interim HC John Fassel‘s stewardship. Robinson himself wasn’t eager to make a move to guard when asked about doing so in January.
Robinson committed a league-high 31 penalties between the 2015-16 seasons. The former Auburn tackle is entering the final season of his rookie deal, and the Rams have a fifth-year option decision coming on him soon.
Here’s more from some teams out west.
- New Broncos quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave turned down offensive coordinator jobs to reunite with Mike McCoy in Denver, Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post notes. Musgrave and McCoy each interviewed for the Broncos’ OC job. The pair coached together briefly with the Panthers in the early 2000s and spent the 1995 preseason together as backups to John Elway before the Broncos cut McCoy. Supplanted as the Raiders’ OC after two seasons, Musgrave was only previously connected to the Broncos’ OC job during the hiring period.
- Elway probably would not have allowed Adam Peters to interview anywhere besides San Francisco, where he’s now the 49ers‘ VP of player personnel. The Broncos GM said (via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle) he would have restricted a move elsewhere, but since he was going to help John Lynch as a first-time GM, Elway gave the go-ahead.
- Despite using him as an evaluator during the 2013 draft process, Elway did not attempt to hire Lynch full-time with the Broncos due to his interest in staying as a television analyst, the Denver GM told Branch.
- Matt Slauson figures to return for a second Chargers season, Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune notes, before adding that D.J. Fluker‘s future is less certain. Despite the Bolts picking up Fluker’s fifth-year option last year, Tom Telesco is unlikely to bring the converted guard back at the $8.8MM option price. Fluker’s 2017 salary is guaranteed against injury only, so the Chargers could cut him and save that money.
- Gehlken also expects the newly relocated team to at least restructure King Dunlap‘s contract if not outright release the veteran left tackle. Dunlap, 31, is due to make $5.25MM and take up $8.125MM of Los Angeles’ cap. He’s due a $500K bonus if on the roster by March 18. The Chargers reworked Dunlap’s contract last year, converting $1.2MM of his $4.5MM salary into availability-based bonus payments. He earned back $800K of that $1.2MM last season. It would cost the Bolts $3.25MM in dead money to cut Dunlap.
Classy move by John Elway