LA Rams Free Agency Summary: Then there were three

The LA Rams may not exactly be swimming in salary cap space, but by now that can be said of many NFL teams. And so, if you were looking for the Rams to sign a recognizable star from another team, you are likely disappointed already.  That’s okay. This offseason was never going to be about spending wheelbarrows full of cash in free agency. The Rams feel that they upgraded where it counts most, at the quarterback position.

And they likely have.

Wednesday, March 17, 2021, at 1:00 pm PT, the Rams entered the new 2021 NFL season. As such, the trade of Matthew Stafford to the LA Rams became official. In the transition over to Stafford, the Rams have entered a new ‘win now’ chapter of the team’s history.  Or perhaps re-entered is a more appropriate term.

So that’s where the Rams’ organization sees the team right now.  But what of the fans’ perceptions? Has it been business as usual watching key contributors sign elsewhere? Or was the expectation that the Rams would find some enclave of talent and some hidden cache of salary cap space to sign that player or those players by now?  If so, oops. It has not yet happened.

Although the Rams have now re-signed five of their key players. Two on offense and three on defense.

Who and for how much?

CB Darious Williams (RFA) received a first-round Qualifying Tender offer, a one-year contract worth an estimated $4.7 million.
OC Coleman Shelton (ERFA) received a Qualifying offer, worth an estimated $850,000.
ILB Travin Howard (ERFA) received a Qualifying offer, worth an estimated $780,000.
TE Johnny Mundt has re-signed with the Rams for an undisclosed amount on a one-year contract, likely for the league minimum of $660,000.

Per Spotrac.com, the LA Rams 12 unrestricted free agents are broken down thusly:

OLB Leonard Floyd is returning to the Rams on a four-year $64 million deal. Since he re-signed with the Rams, he was never a free agent, technically. His name has been changed on Spotrac.com. Curiously, his contract is structured to hit the Rams’ 2021 salary cap with just $5.5 million of salary expense.
OLB Samson Ebukam is signing on with the San Francisco 49ers on a two-year $12 million deal (Comp Pick likely)
Safety John Johnson III is signing on with the Cleveland Browns on a three-year $33.75 million deal. (Comp Pick very likely)
DE Morgan Fox is signing on with the Carolina Panthers on a two-year $8.5 million deal. (Comp Pick possible)
Edge Derek Rivers is signing on with the Houston Texans on a one-year $3 million prove-it deal. (Comp Pick very unlikely)
CB Troy Hill has signed with the Cleveland Browns on a four-year $24 million deal. (Comp Pick  likely)

Long snapper Jake McQuaide will sign on with the Dallas Cowboys on a one-year deal, terms not yet disclosed.

There are no remaining free agents on the defensive side of the ball.

Offensive activity

On offense, the Rams witnessed two free-agent players signing on with new teams:

RB Malcolm Brown is signing on with the Miami Dolphins on a one-year $1.75 million prove-it deal. (Comp Pick remote)
TE Gerald Everett is signing on with the Seattle Seahawks on a one-year $6 million prove-it deal. (Comp Pick Likely)

The remaining free agents on the offensive side of the ball are as follows:

OC Austin Blythe
QB Blake Bortles
WR Josh Reynolds

So far, the Rams free agents on the offensive side of the ball have not been as quickly signed as the defensive players? Well, that is not a huge surprise, as the Rams offense was less accomplished than their defensive counterparts.

The NFC West activity is not alarming as of yet. The Arizona Cardinals remain focused upon offense, at the expense of their defense. The San Francisco 49ers remain focused upon their offensive line, also at the expense of the defense.  The Seattle Seahawks have not had much of a game plan for free agency yet.

Comp talk

For those of you who track that sort of thing, the loss of free agents (when compared to the 2021 compensatory picks awarded) line up as follows: S John Johnson III’s average per year of $11.75 million could translate into a fourth-round compensatory pick.

Troy Hill, Gerald Everett, and Samson Ebukam’s average per year of $6 million could translate into two fifth or sixth-round compensatory picks. Of course, As NFL teams are capped at no-more-than four compensatory picks in any one year, that could be all she wrote for the Rams. And of course, these are all estimates, and cannot be accurately projected until the free agency market has run its course, and any and all offsets are used in the calculations.

The Rams are in the queue to be awarded their second third-round compensatory pick for the hiring of Brad Holms as GM of the Detroit Lions. If the Rams sign either one or two free agents, the Rams can offset those contracts and retain the maximum award of four picks.  If needed, they may be awarded a sixth-round compensatory pick for the loss of DE Morgan Fox

So far? The Rams may be in line for the awarding of a third-round, a fourth-round, and two fifth or sixth-round compensatory picks in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Austin Blythe and Josh Reynolds are both players who may yet play a significant impact upon the Rams compensatory pick awards for the 2022 NFL Draft. Comp pick awards are determined upon individual player contracts and are not aggregated. Don’t look for QB Blake Bortles to be a factor in any comp pick calculations for 2022.

The Rams were already due to select with six picks in the 2022 NFL Draft: second round, third round, fifth round, sixth round, and two seventh-round picks. Based on the addition of comp picks, the Rams could enjoy up to ten picks in the 2022 NFL Draft.

The LA Rams, with the exception of re-signing five key players, have been content to sit this one out so far. They may be waiting for the market price of players to fall within reach. The Rams have also traded away veteran defensive lineman Michael Brockers to fit under the salary cap.

All of these players will need to have their snaps replaced. While the Rams likely anticipated free agency losses, the trade of Michael Brockers to fit under the salary will accelerate promoting existing players to a larger role in 2021.