8 LA Rams players who won’t be back in 2022

Balancing act

Finally, there is order about roster building, a matter of staggering the contracts among positional groups to the point where the team is not hammered too hard at one position all in the same year. Right now, the LA Rams have four offensive linemen with expiring contracts, plus the risk of another offensive lineman retiring all at the same time. While that may simplify the batch processing of contract negotiations and onboarding players, it plays havoc on the continuity of the team on the football field.

So the front office must balance today’s roster with young talent who are likely to develop into players capable of meeting future roster needs. It’s a tough row to hoe because injuries rapidly impact the roster, and other teams have easy access to sign away future talent from the practice squad for their own roster needs.

In the end, it’s a bit like washing the dishes. The cupboard cannot let the coffee cups or the dinner plates be used all at once without washing and replacing them. Otherwise, trying to pour a cup of coffee in the morning into a water glass is… well, you don’t want to know.

As simple as just signing somebody

It’s a daily responsibility of the personnel department to see where the team stands, try to fill in any openings in the roster, fill in the shallow depth, and keep an eye on the future needs of the team. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?

But it is also impacted by the coaching staff. Plans change, coaches hire on elsewhere and new coaches arrive. Each coach has a wish list of what they would like to see in the players at their positional group. Sometimes those needs can be met. Sometimes the coach must ‘make do,’ with the available talent.

The LA Rams are enjoying remarkable success in 2021. But where can the team do a bit better? Where does the team have young and upcoming players who have earned more playing time? Where do the LA Rams have too much depth, and will choose to let veterans sign elsewhere to give younger players the opportunity to develop further? That is what we are here to find out.