5 LA Rams players the team must re-sign for 2021

DE Fox

The LA Rams benefited from a bargain price for defensive end Morgan Fox in the 2020 NFL Season. Will they be as fortunate in the 2021 NFL Free Agency market? Perhaps not. But unless the market goes apeshit-crazy over Morgan Fox, he will still be worth re-signing.

Fox was unsigned initially by the LA Rams in 2020. It wasn’t because he was not worth bringing back. Rather, he was a contributor on defense with an expired contract. A new defensive coordinator, Brandon Staley, needed time to go over who he wanted to retain for the defense. Fox was re-signed rather late in the process.

Fox is a solid rotational player. On another team? Perhaps a bona fide starter. But for the Rams, he is a player who has built up his playing time to the point where he plays over 400 defensive snaps. For 2020, that translated into six quarterback sacks, nine quarterback hits, eight tackles for a loss, and 27 tackles. Not surprisingly, all were career highs.

Is Fox ready to start? Well if he is, that will likely be on another team. The LA Rams run a 3-4 and will not have an opening at starter for the foreseeable future. That is not to say that these Rams do not have a substantial and meaningful role for Morgan Fox in 2021. It will likely continue to be rotational, but Raheem Morris could slip in some 4-3 versions of the Rams defense.  The Rams need Fox to return.