The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

The Rams seem intent on continuing their 2018 or bust strategy, trading their 1st and 6th round picks for the Patriots' 4th round pick and a 1 year rental of Brandin Cooks (at $8.5 million).

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000924657/article/rams-acquire-brandin-cooks-in-trade-with-patriots

As the depth chart looks right now, 8 of the starting 11 on defensive are in the last year of their deal. Another handful of significant contributors are also up for new contracts after the season. And a few more (including one starter) have just 2 years left.

With Cooks, the Rams now have 5 starters on offense on the last year of their deal, including both guards and the right tackle. The remaining two guys on the o-line, btw, have just 2 more years left -- and the starting LT is 36 years old, the starting C  a mere 32...

Genuine move to try and win it all, or just a ploy to sell some of those PSLs in their new stadium?

Here's a good question.   How the hell did the Patriots get a first rounder for Cooks and the Dolphins got only a fourth rounder for Landry??

Rams are definitely going all in for 2018.  As fyo pointed out, with contract expirations and age, their long term potential may not be good, but they sure do look strong on paper for this year. 

Cooks is a deep threat, Landry is a possession reciever.  I don't entirely agree with it but the former is greatly more valued than the latter.

 You also have to wonder what the Patriots are really up to.   They now have four picks in the first two rounds.   Do they trade up and draft Tom Brady's eventual replacement?  Do they go after OBJ? 

Well that's not an entirely accurate depiction of the trades. The Dolphins got 2 picks for Landry a 4th and a 7th. The Rams got Cooks and a pick from the Patriots for the 1st round pick and 6th round pick. If you throw out the low round picks of both trades essentially Miami got a 4th round pick for a player whereas the Patriots got a 1st round pick for a player AND a 4th round pick. Then there's the contract situation for both players that you have to consider, Landry had been tagged as a franchise player so his contract was worth $14M whereas Cooks had 1 year left on his contract that would pay him $8M. That had a lot to do with it. It wasn't so much that Cooks was more valuable than Landry as it was that his contract was much more friendly and they were getting a 4th round pick to boot.

^ It also factors into things that the Rams wanted Cooks last year, but didn't have a first round pick to match what the Patriots were offering.

I have given up trying to predict BB.  Trading up for a QB rather than add pieces for this year won't make Brady or Gronk happy and that could be problematic.  I don't think Belichick wants to go out that way, better to take a qb at 43, and have him develop into a better QB than Jimmy. And while you might doubt BB can do that, I am sure Bill thinks he can.

I'm never questioning any move that BB makes.  That guy can make the most illogical, head scratching move and it seems to pay off every time. 

It's pretty obvious why

Keep in mind that NE traded a first AND a third to NO last year to get Cooks (and a fourth) in the first place.

Viewed in that context, sending Cooks and a fourth to LAR for a first and a sixth means that the cost for NE to rent Cooks for a year was his 2017 salary plus a move down from the third round to the sixth.

^ New England also moved up 8 spots in the first round. Then there's the draconian depreciation usually applied to future picks (one round per year).