5 last-second free agents for LA Rams ball control offense

As reports of late free-agent signings continue, here are 5 last-second free agents the LA Rams can sign to help the offense control the clock

The LA Rams have committed to a youth movement for their offensive line so far in 2020. While it’s still way too early to know how that’s working out for the team so far, there is a last-second opportunity to load up with a veteran or two to help out the team’s offensive line.

Why are we still discussing the offensive line after the team has their 90-man roster in place? To be brutally honest, fans are nervous. The team was decimated with injuries to all five offensive linemen who started the season last year. If the player did not end up on the injured reserve list for almost the entire season, the player was banged up severely enough to require surgery during the offseason.  None of the five starters remained healthy. And that usually leads teams to buy free agents as insurance policies the following year.

Of course, the Rams haven’t the available free cash to pay for any top-shelf players, so the presumption is that any deals between the NFL veteran and the team will somehow navigate the curious rules of the NFL salary cap. For the players, that could mean a minimum base salary with a balloon bonus payment next season, or as in the case of the LA Rams contract with OLB Leonard Floyd, a phantom multi-year team option clause to allow the team to spread salary cap impact to future years.

For the team, it means going back to the restructure wheel once more, this time something along the lines of QB Jared Goff‘s 2020 roster bonus converted to a signing bonus (spread over multiple years) to free up approximately $16 million more dollars in 2020, at the expense of using up $4 million more cap space in future years. So who could the LA Rams consider signing with that suddenly freed up cap space?