NFL analyst says Rams overpaid for this free agent

[ASFN Admin]

The Los Angeles Rams have spent the eighth-most money so far in free agency this offseason, per Over The Cap. Most of that is tied up in the Davante Adams, Poona Ford and Alaric Jackson deals, and the team still has to decide what Matthew Stafford's new contract will look like.

The responses from those deals have been mixed between good and bad, necessary and superfluous. But at the end of the day, head coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead and make moves to win a Super Bowl now and maximize on the roster that won the NFC West a year ago.

However, one NFL analyst believes Snead and company overpaid on one of their free agency deals. The Sporting News' Daniel Mader wrote that Adam's two-year, $44 million deal (which is effectively a one-year, $20 million contract) is too much for the 32-year-old receiver.

"There's no question that Adams is still an elite NFL wide receiver. In a down year, he still totaled 1,063 receiving yards between the Raiders and Jets. Adams also remains one of the best down-field wideouts in the league.

"However, he's 32, which is getting up there for an NFL receiver. His $22 million AAV now ranks 18th among all receivers, so the Rams paid him as a top-20 player at his position — which is fair to do based on last season's production. But can Adams be trusted to remain elite through age 34?

"With Matthew Stafford also approaching 40 and Los Angeles set to part ways with one star receiver in Cooper Kupp just to replace him with Adams, this is a contract that may not do much for the Rams, and it may not look great by next spring."

The purported issues with the Adams deal are more so about longevity than actually disagreeing with the move, but Mader isn't the first analyst to be worried about the addition of Adams. Los Angeles is relying on Adams to continue to play at his elite level for, at minimum, one more season with Stafford. Whether or not that happens will be on Adams' ability to stay healthy — which hasn't been a problem — and McVay's ability to work Adams into the offense seamlessly.

Neither of those should be a problem for the Rams, who are in win-now mode as Stafford continues to play on the back-end of his career. The high-risk, high-reward move of Adams might be an overpay, but the alternative was either keep overpaying for Kupp, add middling receiver talent elsewhere, trade draft capital for other players or draft an unproven pass-catcher that may take time to develop.

This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: NFL analyst says Rams overpaid for this free agent

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