Rams Tag Lamarcus Joyner
The Rams have placed a non-exclusive franchise tag on safety Lamarcus Joyner. Because each team is only allowed to tag one player per offseason, this means that Sammy Watkins will be ticketed for free agency unless the two sides come to an agreement between now and March 14. 
[RELATED: Rams Trade Robert Quinn to Dolphins]
The Rams are still intent on keeping Watkins, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Although the Rams value both players, tagging Joyner was the less costly option. The franchise tag for safeties this year is $11.287MM. Conversely, the tag for wide receivers is $15.982MM.
The Rams have a fair amount of flexibility this offseason, so an extension for Watkins could still be in the cards. At the same time, they’ll have to factor for future deals with running back Todd Gurley and defensive tackle Aaron Donald. On the plus side, their recent trade of Robert Quinn to the Dolphins has opened up additional room.
Joyner, a 2014 second-rounder, never started more than eight games in a season until 2017. He shifted from cornerback to free safety in his contract year and broke out in a big way. Last season, Joyner started 12 contests and graded out as the third-best safety in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus.
The Rams have until July 16 to hammer out a long-term deal with Joyner. If the two sides are unable to reach a multi-year accord, Joyner will play out the 2018 season under the terms of his one-year tender.
Before the tag, Joyner profiled as the top available safety in free agency. Now, the best safeties available include the likes of Eric Reid, Morgan Burnett, Tre Boston, Kenny Vaccaro, Bradley McDougald, Tyvon Branch, and Marcus Gilchrist. It remains a deep class at safety, but none of those players offer the same kind of upside as Joyner. There will be some notables on the trade market as well, but as of this writing, the Seahawks seem intent on keeping Earl Thomas.
Tre Mason Looking To Make NFL Return
Tre Mason is looking to make an NFL return, sources tell Matt Zenitz of AL.com. People close to Mason have reached out to teams to let them know that Mason’s mental health has greatly improved since 2016 when he had multiple run-ins with police. 
It remains to be seen whether Mason will get another opportunity. In March of 2016, the former SEC Offensive Player of the Year was arrested for reckless driving, resisting arrest, and possession of cannabis. In July of that year, he was “admitted for evaluation” after an incident at his mother’s house.
Due to his personal issues, Mason has not played since the 2015 season. The Rams placed the running back on the reserve/did not report list in August 2016 he failed to show up to a meeting. Leading up to that, he had not been in contact with the organization for months.
The Auburn product didn’t produce a whole lot when he was on the field and he’s now years removed from the game. At this point, Mason may not be able to get so much as a non-guaranteed, minimum salary deal.
Mason appeared in 25 games for the Rams (12 starts) in his two seasons with the Rams. He ran for 972 rushing yards and five touchdowns off of 254 carries, and he added another 34 receptions for 236 yards and one score. After averaging a solid 4.3 yards per carry as a rookie, that number plummeted to 2.8 yards as a sophomore.
Rams To Host CB Sam Shields
Free agent cornerback Sam Shields will meet with the Rams on Tuesday, according to Michael Cohen of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Shields is also planning on visiting with the Browns in the near future, but his meeting with Los Angeles will occur first, per Cohen.
Shields, now 30 years old, suffered the fifth concussion of his career in Green Bay’s 2016 season opener and hasn’t played since. He spent the rest of that 2016 campaign on injured reserve, and the Packers subsequently released him once the season concluded. Shields never drew any interest during the 2017 free agent period, but he’s now back to working on practice fields with the intent of playing in 2018.
It’s unclear if any team will take a chance on Shields, especially given the NFL’s continued focus on head injuries. Shields is confident he will be signed this spring, while at least one personnel executive recently told Cohen that Shields could land a deal if his health checks out. For what it’s worth, Shields says he will end his playing career if he suffers even one more concussion, reports Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal.
Shields, who served as Green Bay’s No. 1 corner for a three-year stretch, agreed to forgo free agency in 2014 by agreeing to a four-year, $39MM deal. A former undrafted free agent, Shields spent seven years with the Packers, starting 62 games and racking up 18 interceptions during that span. He earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2014.
The Rams, for their part, have already acquired a new shutdown defensive back, as their trade for ex-Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters will become official when the new league year begins on March 14. Trumaine Johnson remains unlikely to re-sign with Los Angeles, and Nickell Robey-Coleman is a pending free agent, leaving the Rams with Kayvon Webster, Troy Hill, and Blake Countess, among others, behind Peters.
Rams To Tag Either Watkins Or Joyner
The Rams have two franchise tag candidates in wide receiver Sammy Watkins and safety Lamarcus Joyner. One of those players will receive the tag on Tuesday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, but they have yet to decide which one. 
[RELATED: Sammy Watkins, Franchise Tag Candidate]
By tagging one of the players, the Rams will guarantee that they will not lose both players to unrestricted free agency. However, if they cannot come to terms on a deal with either Watkins or Joyner before March 14, they’ll risk losing a key cog to the open market.
Late last month, it was reported that the Rams are leaning towards tagging Joyner over Watkins. Joyner would represent the cheaper tag as the projected cost for safeties is just over $11MM. Tagging Watkins would be more costly at a rate of about $16.23MM.
There’s more to the decision than just the Rams’ evaluation of each player and the cost. For all of Watkins’ drawbacks, including a dicey health history and a down year in 2017, he stands as one of the best potential free agents at his position. If the Rams do not tag him, they’ll be embroiled in a bidding war with other WR-needy teams and his price could quickly become too rich for their blood. Joyner, meanwhile, may profile as the best safety on the market, but there are other quality options near the top including Morgan Burnett, Kenny Vaccaro, Tre Boston, and Eric Reid.
Rams To Trade Robert Quinn To Dolphins
The Rams have agreed to another big trade. They are going to ship Robert Quinn to the Dolphins in exchange for a mid-round pick, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links).
The Rams discussed dealing the eighth-year edge defender to the Chiefs for Marcus Peters, but the sides settled on a second- and fourth-round pick. Now, it looks like the Rams are getting a trade pick back to help compensate for the mid-rounders they sent for Peters and Sammy Watkins over the past several months.
Miami will send its fourth- and sixth-round picks to Los Angeles for Quinn and a sixth-rounder, Peter Schrager of NFL.com tweets. The Rams had three sixth-round picks in this draft, after collecting the third in the Peters deal, and it’s uncertain which one they will send to the Dolphins. The Dolphins also had two fourth-rounders after the Jay Ajayi trade as well, so it’s also not known which pick they agreed to include in this deal.
Quinn has two years and just more than $25MM remaining on his second NFL contract, and he’ll now return to a 4-3 scheme after spending 2017 in Wade Phillips‘ 3-4. While Quinn bounced back to start 14 games after being limited to fewer than 10 during the two prior years, he has not been the dominant force he was in St. Louis. But he will only be set for his age-28 season in 2018, so the Dolphins are betting the former first-round pick has some quality years left.
The former North Carolina prodigy compiled three straight seasons of 10-plus sacks from 2012-14, with that stretch peaking via 2013’s 19-sack season that placed Quinn on the top All-Pro team. He registered 8.5 sacks last season and has 62.5 for his career to go along with an impressive 21 forced fumbles (seven in that All-Pro slate). A back injury and a concussion limited Quinn to just 17 games during the 2015 and ’16 seasons.
This move is interesting financially for the Dolphins, who are projected to be $8MM-plus over the cap. They have given Jarvis Landry permission to find a trade and don’t look intent on carrying his $16.2MM franchise tag on their books. But Quinn is set for $12MM-plus cap numbers in each of the next two seasons. But none of that money is guaranteed.
With Quinn representing the third-highest cap hold on the Rams’ payroll, this will help a franchise that has multiple marquee UFAs it would like to retain in Watkins and Lamarcus Joyner and a looming extension for probably the best defensive player in football. The Rams entered Friday with $39.9MM in cap space.
Rams To Cut Or Trade Tavon Austin
The Rams will either trade or release wide receiver Tavon Austin before the start of the league year, a source tells Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). Given Austin’s lack of production to date, a release seems more likely. 
In 2013, GM Les Snead used the No. 8 overall pick to take Austin, a speedy wide receiver out of West Virginia. The selection was viewed as a reach at the time and his lack of consistent production made it clear to most that the Rams had erred with that pick. After catching 52 passes for 473 yards and five scores in 2015, the Rams inked Austin to a hefty four-year, $42MM extension which, at the time, made him the 12th-highest paid receiver in the NFL. Less than two years later, the Rams are bailing on that deal and probably eating money in order to break free.
Austin, 26, will earn a fully guaranteed $5MM roster bonus this year whether or not he’s on the Rams’ roster. By cutting him before March 16, the team gets to save $3MM against the cap. The good news for L.A. is that Austin’s contract contains offsets, meaning the Rams will save money if and when Austin lands a new contract. However, it’s hard to see Austin earning much more than the league minimum after the year he had in 2017.
The diminutive Austin had just 13 receptions for 47 yards in 2017. He played only 230 snaps in total. By most measures, 2016 was his best season to date as he had 58 catches for 509 yards and three touchdowns.
Chiefs Notes: Peters, Smith, Rams
New Rams cornerback Marcus Peters appeared on NFL Network (Facebook link) to make his first comments since the big trade from Kansas City. When asked about whether he agrees with the Chiefs’ decision to trade Alex Smith earlier in the offseason, he did not mince words.
“No. Man, Alex, Alex don’t get enough respect,” Peters said. “And they need to start putting some respect on that man’s name. Because I’ve seen that man get thrown in with not the best team at times and he took it as a man. And he never complained about it. He don’t turn over the ball. And he knows how to win. That was our fault for messing up the playoffs. That was our fault.”
Of course, the Chiefs’ trade of Smith was less of a referendum on his talent and more of a vote of confidence for rising sophomore Patrick Mahomes. Between the trades of Smith and Peters, the Chiefs are armed with additional flexibility and draft capital this offseason, making them one of the most interesting teams to keep an eye on.
Here’s more out of KC:
- The Chiefs called every team in the league about Peters and 28 teams either passed or did not make an offer of value, Peter King of The MMQB reports. One unknown team offered a mid-round pick (King guesses that it was the Browns or Colts) and only the Rams and Niners were in on him at the end. The Rams’ offer of second- and fourth-round picks, with a sixth-round choice going from KC to L.A., was apparently better than San Francisco’s.
- Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com (Twitter link) gives the Chiefs a C grade for their end of the trade. Even without devaluing the 2019 second-round pick for time, Barnwell can’t wrap his head around that return for a young former All-Pro. Meanwhile, he gives the Rams a B+ for scoring a major bargain, despite Peters’ red flags.
- The Chiefs will part ways with safety Ron Parker this offseason.
Salary Cap Rollover For All 32 NFL Teams
This week, the NFLPA updated its salary cap report to include the rollover amounts for all 32 teams in the NFL. The Browns, as expected, lead the league in $58.9MM in cap space rolled over from the previous season. Here is the full rundown of each team’s rollover amounts:
After the Browns, the 49ers ($56MM), Titans ($30.3MM), Jaguars ($27.8MM), and Jets ($17.3MM) boast the highest rollover amounts in the league. The Dolphins ($69K), Saints ($287K), Giants ($365K), Eagles ($514K), and the Seahawks ($547K) have the least amount of rollover. In total, teams carried over nearly $340MM from last season, good for an average of $10.6MM per club.
Browns, Colts Weren’t Serious About Peters
If the Chiefs’ return for Marcus Peters seemed underwhelming, that’s because there was not a booming market for the cornerback’s services. The Browns and Colts were never major players for Peters, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), despite both teams having execs that were involved in drafting him. 
Shortly after Peters was shipped to the Rams, there were conflicting reports regarding the Browns’ involvement. It seems that we have a better understanding of Cleveland’s participation now – the Browns explored a possible Peters deal, but they were never serious suitors.
The Colts, meanwhile, will be on the lookout for a cornerback, particularly if they do not re-sign Rashaan Melvin. However, they are armed with $74MM+ in cap space and are near the top of the draft order this year, so they have other ways to bolster the CB group. Peters would have given the Colts a top-end starter in the secondary, but he may come with headaches and the price to get him was apparently still too steep for GM Chris Ballard‘s liking.
On Monday afternoon, we learned that the Rams are sending a 2018 fourth-round pick (No. 124 overall) and a 2019 second-rounder to the Chiefs in exchange for Peters and KC’s sixth-round choice (No. 196). That’s probably less than the Chiefs expected to receive, but they did not like the odds of getting Peters’ behavior under control and were uncomfortable with the prospect of giving him major dollars beyond his 2019 option.
Chiefs To Receive Second-, Fourth-Round Picks For Marcus Peters
The Rams will send two draft choices to the Chiefs for Marcus Peters, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).
Neither of those selections will come in the first round, but the Chiefs will nab a second-round pick from the Rams. Rapoport reports Kansas City will receive Los Angeles’ 2018 fourth-round pick and its 2019 second-rounder for Peters.
Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter) the Chiefs will also send a sixth-round pick in this year’s draft to the Rams along with Peters in this swap. The Chiefs were asking for a third-round pick and a player — like they received from the Redskins for Alex Smith — but ended up receiving this package from the Rams, per Albert Breer of SI.com (Twitter link). Robert Quinn‘s name came up during the talks.
Although the Rams will be getting a high-ceiling player whose rookie contract — via the team picking up Peters’ 2019 option — has two years left, only they and the 49ers were confirmed suitors. Matt Miller of Bleacher Report tweets an NFC personnel exec notes the return wasn’t as high as could be expected for a player of Peters’ caliber because of the low number of teams bidding.
By trading two of their best players, the Chiefs have now added third- and fourth-round picks in this year’s draft. This will help in a year in which they do not own a first-round choice. They acquired a third-rounder in the Smith deal. The Rams do not have a 2018 second-rounder, having sent it to the Bills for Sammy Watkins last August (they collected a sixth-round choice in that deal as well). They now do not have a 2019 Round 2 choice but are in line to employ a cornerback who landed on the All-Pro first team in 2016. Peters was the first Chiefs cornerback since Albert Lewis in 1990 to be named a first-team All-Pro.
The Chiefs selected Peters with the No. 18 pick in the 2015 draft, and he went on to become the NFL’s defensive rookie of the year. He’s been a polarizing player, having clashed with Kansas City’s coaching staff and with a sect of the Chiefs’ fanbase due to being part of the racial inequality protest, but has created takeaways at a historic rate. Peters has 19 interceptions, five forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries in three seasons.
The Chiefs were leery about paying Peters as a top-market corner, and that responsibility will now fall on the Rams. Los Angeles, though, will be getting a top-tier corner and have him under team control at rates of $3.1MM (2018) and at around $9MM (2019).