The LA Rams have a very bright future with their secondary

Rotational players will have larger roles

In terms of rotational players who could see bigger roles in 2021, the Rams have slot cornerback David Long Jr. and safeties Nick Scott and Juju Hughes. Both HBO Hard Knocks star DB Donte Deayon and new arrival  DB J.R. Reed are signed to future reserve contracts.  So the Rams have some talent in the pipeline.

And that is the key. Even after the season started, and after the Rams had plenty of talent on the roster, the front office continued to dig for more. They succeeded by signing up running back Raymond Calais and son of former Vikings WR Jake Reed when they inked J.R. Reed to a deal.  It wasn’t long before the Rams elevated Reed to the active 53-man roster.

Now the Rams simply need to bolt it all down. If the Rams slap a franchise tag on John Johnson III and a qualifying first-round tender on Darious Williams, the defense is all but set in terms of pass defense. Yes, that will mean that DB Troy Hill will escape via free agency, but a surging Terrell Burgess may be a better option, and he will certainly be cheaper.

Of course, the hope is that the LA Rams will find the means to retain both CB Darious Williams and S John Johnson III, but that is not guaranteed.  To do so, the Rams will need more than $15 million in freed up salary-cap space. Right now, the team is running a deficit of some $25 million. So where does this place the Rams?