Jalen Ramsey Won’t Skip Training Camp
Jalen Ramsey is seeking a contract extension, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to hold out. The Rams cornerback told reporters that he’ll attend training camp without a new contract (via ESPN’s Lindsay Thiry on Twitter).
[RELATED: Extension Candidate: Rams CB Jalen Ramsey]
“The Rams know where I stand, they’ve been in contact with my agent, they know what’s up,” Ramsey told reporters.
Back in October, the Rams sent a pair of firsts and a fourth-rounder to Jacksonville for the defensive back. Ramsey ended up getting into nine games (eight starts) for his new team, compiling 33 tackles, four passes defended, one forced fumble, and one interception. The 25-year-old ultimately earned his third-straight Pro Bowl appearance.
Ramsey will earn $13.7MM in 2020 thanks to the Jaguars’ (predictable) decision to pick up his fifth-year option. As our own Zach Links recently pointed out, Ramsey’s agents will surely be eyeing Darius Slay‘s $16.7MM average annual value, and they could point to Byron Jones and his $46MM in full guarantees and $54.4MM in effective guarantees.
The Rams don’t have a whole lot of financial flexibility, but they could always turn to the franchise tag next offseason. In that scenario, there’s a chance that Ramsey could end up holding out.
Extension Candidate: Rams CB Jalen Ramsey
Just before last year’s trade deadline, the Rams swung a blockbuster deal to land Jalen Ramsey. Now, they have some more negotiating to do as Ramsey enters the final year of his contract.
[RELATED: Will The Cardinals Trade Reddick?]
Ramsey, 26 in October, is set to earn $13.7MM in 2020, a figure dictated by his fifth-year option. The expected market will dictate his rate on this go ’round, which means that he’s probably due for a raise. Before Ramsey arrived in Los Angeles, he had his sights set on a deal that would reset the market. Despite an iffy year, Ramsey still figures to play in that ballpark.
Between his three games with the Jaguars and nine games with the Rams, Ramsey recorded just 50 tackles and one interception. The former No. 5 overall pick did not play up to his usual standards, but the fact remains that Ramsey is one of the league’s most talented cornerbacks and any team would be happy to back up a Brinks truck for him.
Currently, Darius Slay stands as the league’s highest-paid cornerback on a per-year basis with an average annual salary of $16.7MM. Meanwhile, Byron Jones of the Dolphins leads corners in full guarantees ($46MM) and effective guarantees ($54.4MM). It’s safe to say that Ramsey’s reps will have all of those numbers handy when it comes time to talk.
The Rams, meanwhile, would be willing to toss figures around in that ballpark, though their lack of cap room makes it a bit tricky. It would be tough for the Rams to tamp down Ramsey’s 2020 hit while also giving him $17MM/year to top Slay. Meanwhile, there isn’t a lot of fat left to trim. They could carve out another $3.6MM for Ramsey by releasing Troy Hill, but that would also leave ~$900K in dead money and little room for extra improvements. A restructuring of Aaron Donald‘s deal could give them more dollars to work with – similar to what Jared Goff did recently – but that would also create a snowball effect on future cap years.
Ramsey promised the team that he wouldn’t hold out in 2020 if he didn’t have a new deal in place, though he won’t necessarily cooperate with the Rams if he’s franchise tagged for 2021. Without that safety net in place, the Rams will have to find middle ground with their star cornerback sooner rather than later.
Longest-Tenured GMs In The NFL
When we ran down the longest-tenured head coaches in the NFL, we found that less than half of the league’s current coaches have been in their positions for more than three years. That’s not quite the case with general managers, but there have been plenty of changes in recent years.
A handful of general managers have gotten to take their coats off and stay for a long while. Among coaches, Bill Belichick had joined his team prior to 2003. Here, you’ll see that five GMs have been with their teams since before ’03 (Belichick, of course, is also on this list). Two of those five – Jerry Jones and Mike Brown – are outliers, since they’re team owners and serve as de facto GMs. But the Patriots, Steelers, and Saints, have all had the same general managers making their roster decisions for well over a decade.
Here’s the complete list of the NFL’s longest-tenured GMs, along with the date they took over the job:
- Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys): April 18, 1989[1]
- Mike Brown (Cincinnati Bengals): August 5, 1991[2]
- Bill Belichick (New England Patriots): January 27, 2000[3]
- Kevin Colbert (Pittsburgh Steelers): February 18, 2000[4]
- Mickey Loomis (New Orleans Saints): May 14, 2002
- Rick Spielman (Minnesota Vikings): May 30, 2006[5]
- Thomas Dimitroff (Atlanta Falcons): January 13, 2008
- John Schneider (Seattle Seahawks): January 19, 2010[6]
- Howie Roseman (Philadelphia Eagles): January 29, 2010
- John Elway (Denver Broncos): January 5, 2011[7]
- Les Snead (St. Louis Rams): February 10, 2012
- David Caldwell (Jacksonville Jaguars): January 8, 2013
- Steve Keim (Arizona Cardinals): January 8, 2013
- Tom Telesco (San Diego Chargers): January 9, 2013
- Jason Licht (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): January 21, 2014
- Ryan Pace (Chicago Bears): January 8, 2015
- Chris Grier (Miami Dolphins): January 4, 2016
- Bob Quinn (Detroit Lions): January 8, 2016
- Jon Robinson (Tennessee Titans): January 14, 2016
- John Lynch (San Francisco 49ers): January 29, 2017
- Chris Ballard (Indianapolis Colts): January 30, 2017
- Brandon Beane (Buffalo Bills): May 9, 2017
- Brett Veach (Kansas City Chiefs): July 11, 2017
- Marty Hurney (Carolina Panthers): July 19, 2017
- Dave Gettleman (New York Giants): December 28, 2017
- Brian Gutekunst (Green Bay Packers): January 7, 2018
- Mike Mayock (Oakland Raiders): December 31, 2018
- Joe Douglas (New York Jets): June 7, 2019
- Eric DeCosta (Baltimore Ravens): January 7, 2019[8]
- Ron Rivera (Washington Redskins): January 1, 2020[9]
- Andrew Berry (Cleveland Browns): January 27, 2020
- Bill O’Brien (Houston Texans): January 28, 2020
Footnotes:
- Jones has been the Cowboys’ de facto general manager since former GM Tex Schramm resigned in April 1989.
- Brown has been the Bengals’ de facto GM since taking over as the team’s owner in August 1991.
- Belichick has been the Patriots’ de facto GM since shortly after being hired as the team’s head coach in January 2000.
- Colbert was initially hired as the team’s director of football operations and received the newly-created general manager title in 2011.
- Spielman was initially hired as the team’s VP of player personnel and received the GM title in 2012.
- While Schneider holds the title of GM, head coach Pete Carroll has the final say on roster moves for the Seahawks.
- Elway was initially hired as the team’s executive VP of football operations and received the GM title in 2014.
- In 2018, the Ravens announced that DeCosta would replace Ozzie Newsome as GM for Ozzie Newsome after the conclusion of the season. The Ravens’ ’18 season ended with their Wild Card loss to the Chargers on 1/6/19.
- Technically, the Redskins do not have a GM, as of this writing. Rivera is, effectively, their GM, working in tandem with Vice President of Player Personnel Kyle Smith. Smith may receive the GM title in the near future.
Longest-Tenured Head Coaches In The NFL
Things move fast in today’s NFL and the old adage of “coaches are hired to be fired” has seemingly never been more true. For the most part, teams change their coaches like they change their underwear. 
A head coach can take his team to the Super Bowl, or win the Super Bowl, or win multiple Super Bowls, but they’re never immune to scrutiny. Just ask Tom Coughlin, who captured his second ring with the Giants after the 2011 season, only to receive his pink slip after the 2015 campaign.
There are also exceptions. Just look at Bill Belichick, who just wrapped up his 20th season at the helm in New England. You’ll also see a few others on this list, but, for the most part, most of today’s NFL head coaches are relatively new to their respective clubs. And, history dictates that many of them will be elsewhere when we check in on this list in 2022.
Over one-third (12) of the NFL’s head coaches have coached no more than one season with their respective teams. Meanwhile, less than half (15) have been with their current clubs for more than three years. It seems like just yesterday that the Cardinals hired Kliff Kingsbury, right? It sort of was – Kingsbury signed on with the Cardinals in January of 2019. Today, he’s practically a veteran.
Here’s the list of the current head coaches in the NFL, ordered by tenure, along with their respective start dates:
- Bill Belichick (New England Patriots): January 27, 2000
- Sean Payton (New Orleans Saints): January 18, 2006
- Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh Steelers): January 27, 2007
- John Harbaugh (Baltimore Ravens): January 19, 2008
- Pete Carroll (Seattle Seahawks): January 9, 2010
- Andy Reid (Kansas City Chiefs): January 4, 2013
- Bill O’Brien (Houston Texans): January 2, 2014
- Mike Zimmer (Minnesota Vikings): January 15, 2014
- Dan Quinn (Atlanta Falcons): February 2, 2015
- Doug Pederson (Philadelphia Eagles): January 18, 2016
- Sean McDermott (Buffalo Bills): January 11, 2017
- Doug Marrone (Jacksonville Jaguars): December 19, 2016 (interim; permanent since 2017)
- Anthony Lynn (Los Angeles Chargers): January 12, 2017
- Sean McVay (Los Angeles Rams): January 12, 2017
- Kyle Shanahan (San Francisco 49ers): February 6, 2017
- Matt Nagy (Chicago Bears): January 7, 2018
- Matt Patricia (Detroit Lions): February 5, 2018
- Frank Reich (Indianapolis Colts): February 11, 2018
- Jon Gruden (Las Vegas Raiders): January 6, 2018
- Mike Vrabel (Tennessee Titans): January 20, 2018
- Kliff Kingsbury (Arizona Cardinals): January 8, 2019
- Zac Taylor (Cincinnati Bengals): February 4, 2019
- Vic Fangio (Denver Broncos): January 10, 2019
- Matt LaFleur (Green Bay Packers): January 8, 2019
- Brian Flores (Miami Dolphins): February 4, 2019
- Adam Gase (New York Jets): January 11, 2019
- Bruce Arians (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): January 8, 2019
- Ron Rivera (Washington Redskins): January 1, 2020
- Matt Rhule (Carolina Panthers): January 7, 2020
- Mike McCarthy (Dallas Cowboys): January 7, 2020
- Joe Judge (New York Giants): January 8, 2020
- Kevin Stefanski (Cleveland Browns): January 13, 2020
Minor NFL Transactions: 5/15/20
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Los Angeles Rams
- Re-signed: DE Morgan Fox
- Released: DL Tanzel Smart
Several Teams Exploring Out-Of-State Training Camps
Only two teams left their home state for training camp last year. That number may increase dramatically in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted several teams to discuss moving their camp sites out of state, Albert Breer of SI.com reports.
Many teams’ explorations about leaving their home states for camp have progressed, per Breer. A number of states’ coronavirus-induced restrictions preventing necessary conditions to hold a training camp are at the root of this, with teams stationed in the northeast and on the West Coast likely being the ones preparing contingency plans.
On Tuesday, Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said (via Colleen Shalby of the Los Angeles Times) the county’s stay-at-home orders were certain to extend for another three months. While the Rams and Chargers’ facilities respectively reside in Ventura and Orange County, having adjacent L.A. County set to increase its lockdown does not paint a promising picture the neighboring counties will be open fully in time for camps. The Rams and Bolts’ under-construction stadium (SoFi Stadium), however, is located in L.A. County.
The Rams, Chargers, 49ers and Cowboys hold camp in California, with the latter’s camp site being in Oxnard (Ventura County). The Chargers’ Costa Mesa facility is located in Orange County. States like New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington could also be classified as locales that may make holding a camp untenable by late July, Breer adds. Altogether, that would force more than a fourth of the league to consider holding camp in another state.
Teams carry 90-man rosters in training camp. Couple those with the dozens of coaches per franchise, along with dozens of additional personnel per squad, and many teams may well run into trouble if they attempt to hold training camp in their respective home states come July. All teams are currently going through virtual offseasons, but some play in states with looser restrictions.
As of now, the NFL prevents any team from gathering at its facility until all 50 states’ lockdown measures have ceased. But the league, in announcing a potential change to this policy last week, may be preparing to allow teams to gather at their respective headquarters fairly soon. This would leave several teams — those in states with stricter guidelines — in limbo. This could be where training camp relocations come in.
Matthews To File Grievance; Gurley Won't
Clay Matthews will file a grievance against the Rams over more than $2MM in unpaid guarantees, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. Todd Gurley, however, will not submit one, per ESPN.com’s Vaughn McClure. Gurley is owed a $7.55MM roster bonus, though offset language from his Falcons deal can reduce that to nearly $5.05MM, per McClure. The Rams, who released both players in March, said each player will receive his respective bonus payment. But the team believes neither payment is due for some time. Matthews’ two-year Rams deal included a $5.5MM guarantee, and Fowler adds that his contract contained $2MM in offset language. That would explain the reason for the delay. The Rams are likely waiting to see if another team will end up signing the veteran pass rusher. That would save the Rams the $2MM.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/29/20
Today’s minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: LB Bryan Cox Jr.
Chicago Bears
- Signed: WR Trevor Davis
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: LB Daniel Bituli
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: G Zac Kerin
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/27/20
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Chicago Bears
- Released: TE Dax Raymond
Denver Broncos
- Released: S Tyvis Powell, TE Bug Howard, DL Deyon Sizer, DL Jay-Tee Tiuli
Detroit Lions
- Released: RB Tra Carson, LS James Fisher, G Casey Tucker, P Matt Wile
Green Bay Packers
- Released: QB Manny Wilkins
Indianapolis Colts
- Released: TE Billy Brown, WR Steve Ishmael
Kansas City Chiefs
- Released: QB Kyle Shurmur
Las Vegas Raiders
- Released: RB Mark Thompson
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: C Coleman Shelton (Exclusive Rights Free Agent)
- Released: LB Jeff Holland
San Francisco 49ers
- Released: S Jacob Thieneman
Rams Sign 20 UDFAs
The Rams announced their undrafted free agent class Saturday night, and it’s a big one.
- DL Eric Banks (UT San Antonio)
- OL Cohl Cabral (Arizona State)
- WR Earnest Edwards (Maine)
- RB James Gilbert (Kansas State)
- DL Mike Hoecht (Brown)
- DB JuJu Hughes (Fresno State)
- WR Trishton Jackson (Syracuse)
- RB Xavier Jones (SMU)
- WR JJ Koski (Cal Poly)
- CB Dayan Lake (BYU)
- QB Josh Love (San Jose State)
- CB Tyrique McGhee (Georgia)
- QB Bryce Perkins (Virginia)
- WR Brandon Polk (James Madison)
- LB Greg Reaves (South Florida)
- DL Sam Renner (Minnesota)
- LB Christian Rozeboom (South Dakota)
- CB Levonta Taylor (Florida State)
- DL Jonah Williams (Weber State)
- WR Easop Winston (Washington State)
The biggest name on the list is Perkins the former Virginia quarterback, and we wrote about his signing in more detail here. The Rams previously only had John Wolford on the roster behind Jared Goff, so it makes sense they signed Perkins as well as Love the former San Jose State passer.
Los Angeles signed five receivers, with three of them coming from the FCS level. After previously having a career-high of 143 yards Jackson exploded out of nowhere to put up 1,023 yards and 11 touchdowns with Syracuse last year. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein had him pegged as a fifth-rounder and most analysts had him getting drafted, so this could be a nice pickup for Sean McVay.