LA Rams free agency search turns up 3 undervalued veteran centers

Patriots center

A third undervalued free-agent center option is James Ferentz of the New England Patriots. At 31 years of age, he’s now entering his fifth NFL season with stints at Houston (2014), Denver (2015-16), and New England (2017-19). The 6-foot-2, 300-pounder has played in 38 regular-season games with and four post-season games as a reserve.

Last season, Ferentz played in 15 regular-season games and made his first two career starts – one at guard and the other at the center position. That’s pretty impressive to a player who was signed to a one-year contract for the affordable sum of $825,000 last year.

While he has not had a season where an NFL team has entrusted him to start 16 regular-season games, he has plenty of NFL experience to make a great versatile backup for multiple positions. And Ferentz has a nasty blocking style and has shown the ability to take on defensive linemen with solid technique and cerebral play. (kinda what you’d expect from a Patriots lineman).

He’s a snarler, a gritty player who can infect his teammates with a determined scrappy attitude that is sometimes lost.

All three of our veteran free-agent offensive center options have that versatility going for them. While everyone is quick to jump on the draft bandwagon, the Rams would be wise to not overlook the value of adding a proven, savvy veteran at the offensive center. After all, that’s how they landed Blythe and that turned out pretty well.