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It won't help you get younger. Assuming there is no collective bargaining agreement signed within the next three weeks, this will mean (a) most of the players who would have been unrestricted free agents will likely be retained by their current teams, (b) the free agents who do hit the open market will mostly be 28 or older because they have to have six years in the league, and (c) the youngest talent in the market will be players who were eligible for free agency several years ago and were unable to land long-term deals.
This is bad news for the Rams. If the old CBA was intact the Rams would be sitting pretty $35 million under the salary cap. If the owners successfully negotiated the cap down, this would be even better for the Rams because it would put the squeeze on teams that had been playing it close. With no cap, the Rams are just a mid-market team in the middle of a transition in ownership.
The free agent market will likely be smaller than usual and more expensive. Because there will be so few starters available in free agency, I would predict competition would be more fierce. This has less to do with the lack of a cap and more to do with simple supply and demand. Effectively, the 26-year-old crowd who would normally be up for their second contract will be removed from free agency, but there will still be a market for the 31-year-old third contract group and to a lesser extent the 35+ "I'm not dead yet" market.
There will still be a few positions we might improve. The quarterback market is likely to be almost non-existent. Even guys like Tarvaris Jackson and Jason Campbell could be retained if their teams so choose, but there will be a few options at back-up runningback including Leon Washington, Willie Parker, Chester Taylor, and Chris Brown. It is unlikely that a true #1 receiver will hit the market, and only a small number of solid #2's. L.J. Smith, formerly of the Eagles, might be an option at tight end, and Ben Watson will be one of the top names in free agency if he is available. The best starter prospects are probably at defensive end: Julius Peppers, Aaron Kampman, and Kyle Vanden Bosch are all possibilities provided they are not tagged. There may be a few options at linebacker including Gary Brackett, Scott Fujita, Angelo Crowell, Cato June, and Tully Banta-Cain.
This is bad news for the Rams. If the old CBA was intact the Rams would be sitting pretty $35 million under the salary cap. If the owners successfully negotiated the cap down, this would be even better for the Rams because it would put the squeeze on teams that had been playing it close. With no cap, the Rams are just a mid-market team in the middle of a transition in ownership.
The free agent market will likely be smaller than usual and more expensive. Because there will be so few starters available in free agency, I would predict competition would be more fierce. This has less to do with the lack of a cap and more to do with simple supply and demand. Effectively, the 26-year-old crowd who would normally be up for their second contract will be removed from free agency, but there will still be a market for the 31-year-old third contract group and to a lesser extent the 35+ "I'm not dead yet" market.
There will still be a few positions we might improve. The quarterback market is likely to be almost non-existent. Even guys like Tarvaris Jackson and Jason Campbell could be retained if their teams so choose, but there will be a few options at back-up runningback including Leon Washington, Willie Parker, Chester Taylor, and Chris Brown. It is unlikely that a true #1 receiver will hit the market, and only a small number of solid #2's. L.J. Smith, formerly of the Eagles, might be an option at tight end, and Ben Watson will be one of the top names in free agency if he is available. The best starter prospects are probably at defensive end: Julius Peppers, Aaron Kampman, and Kyle Vanden Bosch are all possibilities provided they are not tagged. There may be a few options at linebacker including Gary Brackett, Scott Fujita, Angelo Crowell, Cato June, and Tully Banta-Cain.
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