Cowboys Watch All-Pro LB Bobby Wagner Sign with Super Bowl Rams
FRISCO - All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner has set his asking price. And while "it just didn't work out'' for the Dallas Cowboys, the Los Angeles Rams have pretty much met it.
And Wagner is a Ram.
Cowboys COO Stephen Jones told us Tuesday here in Palm Beach at the NFL annual meetings that “it just didn’t work out.”
It was an odd moment, because Jones spoke as if Wagner had signed elsewhere, which he had not.
But it’s now quite clear he’s not signing here - and on Thursday, ESPN reported that he's going to the Rams on a five-year, $50 million deal.
That's $10 million a year ... hardly exorbitant. (Some of the Cowboys' reasoning is detailed here.)
Wagner made a free agency visit to the Baltimore Ravens after the former Seahawks star visited his hometown Los Angeles Rams.
Dallas, as CowboysSI.com was first to report, had also made contact.
Wagner was thought to be asking for about $11 million on a one-year deal ... and was looking, he said, for one other thing.
"I just want to win," Wagner said to TMZ Sports.
In fairness to any contender for his services, no team has done more winning than the Rams, with two Super Bowl appearances in the last four seasons, a recent title, and seeming continued success in free agency and offseason moves.
Wagner was asked by TMZ for his thoughts on the Rams situation.
"Sounds good!" he replied.
So why had their come word that there is "no momentum'' in talks with Dallas? Or the the Ravens or the Rams, apparently?
Ultimately, in addition to "winning,'' this is more about "finance'' than "fit.'' That goes for the Rams, the Cowboys, the Ravens, all of them.
Wagner is a do-it-all talent, an iconic Seahawk, and a future Hall of Fame guy. Is he going downhill as a performer? He will turn 32 in June, so that's coming. But last season, Wagner posted a career-high 170 tackles in 16 games played, also recording a sack and an interception.
"Fit''? Yeah, he fits.
"Finance''? Wagner is still on the market in part, logic says, due to his price tag. He is coming off a contract that was paying him $18 million APY.
In his mind, $11 million is therefore a bargain.
© Provided by Sporting News
The Cowboys have the cap room to do something big, in part as a result of the Randy Gregory fiasco. Bobby Wagner would've been big. But Wagner joining the NFL's best team? That's bigger still.
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