LA Rams “Scrooged” offensive line for 2020 season

The LA Rams tight-fisted actions towards the offensive line paints the team into a  difficult corner heading into the 2020 season

The LA Rams may have one of the smallest cap spaces among NFL teams, and spent the third most among NFL teams on the offensive side of the ball. But when it comes to rewarding the offensive line, the Rams are the NFL’s version of Ebenezer Scrooge as the team heads into the 2020 NFL season. Unfortunately, LA Rams fans worldwide are stuck in the unenviable role of playing Mrs. Cratchit.  So far, our articles about the offensive line, are being met with the same disdain as Bob Cratchit’s toast to his family on Christmas morn.  So far, they go something like this:

"Ramblin Fan – “The LA Rams!  We give you the LA Rams everybody! The founders of the LA Rams offensive line feast for 2020!”Fans – “The Founder of the Feast indeed!” cry LA Rams fans, reddening. “We wish we had them  here. We’d give them a piece of our minds to feast upon, and we hope they’d have a good appetite for it.” – a parody based upon A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens"

The Rams have constructed a team payroll too lopsided for their own good. Of course, that’s not news, per se. Everyone recognizes the general austerity the front office seems to apply to the current offensive line roster.  But it wasn’t until reviewing the comparisons compiled by Spotrac.com that I truly recognized the extent of the Rams payroll problem this season.

As of January 24, 2020, the LA Rams are the third most well paid offenses in the NFL according to Spotrac.com. But when that same Spotrac.com analysis turns to focus upon the offensive line, that ranking falls to third worst in the NFL. If the old adage “you get what you pay for!” stands, then the LA Rams 2019 performance was an incredible feat of overachievement.  If the same financial neglect applies to the 2020 version of the Rams offensive line, the Rams will have a hard time winning games.

We have been dissecting and analyzing the LA Rams 2020 options to return to the Super Bowl, and the road always seems to lead to that offensive line.  Whether a frugal fix, a shopping spree in the free agency market, or by focusing on the offensive line in the 2020 NFL Draft, the consensus remains that the Rams will only succeed if they repair the offensive line this off-season.  To do that, it’s clear that the team must spend some money to reinforce the offensive line.

So returning to the Christmas Carol analogy from earlier, we do not wish to be Bob Cratchit, toasting the brilliance of the LA Rams version of Scrooge towards their offensive line.  Rather, we wish to be the spirit of former business partner, Jacob Marley.  In that role, we are urging the Rams to change their frugal ways before it is too late for them and Rams fans.  Do it now, before it is too late.