LA Rams past sins complicates 2021 NFL Free Agency

Feeding the masses with seven loaves and two fishes

Now comes the moment of truth. The LA Rams 2021 salary cap will likely be the floor set via the NFL-NFLPA agreement of $175 million. The Rams wisely took tremendous salary cap hits in 2020 to fall under that number.  But remaining under that number is the difficult part.

The LA Rams have one of the most talented defensive secondaries preparing to play in 2020. 3/4ths of that group have expiring contracts this season. Similarly, the Rams have one of best pass receiving offenses for 2020. but four key players have expiring contracts for 2021 as well.
All want “their share”. But who warrants it?

Don’t make it top-heavy

Building a championship team is about setting a good foundation, locking in elite players at key positions, and then rounding out the roster with key niche players for specific roles. Even then, the entire process needs quite a bit of luck to develop. Well assembled rosters need to stay healthy.

So the sins of the past, leaning far too heavily into skill players who failed to deliver on their end of the bargain, will hamper the team’s ability to reforge a solid roster next season. The Rams are not in salary cap purgatory as many teams will be. But the realization of tomorrow is that some of today’s stars will be getting off this train at the next stop. But who?