The LA Rams say farewell to free agent OC Austin Blythe

If you were holding out hope for the LA Rams to re-sign offensive center Austin Blythe, then I hate to be the one to break this to you. It’s not happening. The LA Rams brought Blythe back to the roster when they re-signed the versatile veteran to a one-year prove-it deal in 2020.  Either Blythe failed to prove it, or the Rams failed to come up with the funds necessary to back a new contract.

In either case, the LA Rams will need to fill a starting offensive center role, just as they needed to do in 2019. On this occasion, the Rams have some idea of who they have in backup center Brian Allen. The questions now are: Will Allen be enough? Will Coleman Shelton even have a chance to win a starting role at the center position? When (not if) will the Rams draft a new center?

In the meantime, Rams free agent offensive center Austin Blythe is on the move. You see, he agreed to sign on with the Kansas City Chiefs and play for head coach Andy Reid, affectionately known as ‘Big Red’.

And so, the Rams are definitely in the market for help at the center position. But I believe that really hasn’t changed with today’s news.

One-year deals, from an NFL team roster perspective, are used in two different scenarios. In the first scenario, it affords unfamiliar players and team coaches to audition for one another to see if there is a mutual fit. But for familiar players? It is the equivalent of a ‘warning’. It’s the we-think-you-can-do-better-but-you-need-to-show-us-that-you-can arrangement.