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

Player 8 – Edged out

The 2021 NFL Free Agent Market overpaid outside linebackers in the 2021 NFL Free Agency market, and will most definitely do so again. You can bet that LA Rams OLB Ogbonnia Okoronkwo is looking for the type of payday (2-year $12 million) that Samson Ebukam scored off the San Francisco 49ers in the off-season.

But the Rams won’t be offering that kind of money.

Obo is a solid rotational player. A player who can give the Rams 100-250 quality defensive snaps per season. He has a deceptively quick burst towards the quarterback, and will get a couple of quarterback sacks, up to a dozen pressures, and perhaps two dozen tackles per year. For some teams, that is worth a contract of two years. For the LA Rams? I’m not sure that it is.

Rotational players

The LA Rams have Leonard Floyd and Justin Hollins who can both start. They have traded for Von Miller, a savvy veteran who the team would love to extend. And the team has both Terrell Lewis and Chris Garrett to take on rotational roles with the team at a relatively inexpensive cost.

Okoronkwo is a dependable, show up and perform-at-his-best type of player. He gives 100 percent and has a solid work ethic. NFL teams will be pleased to have him on their roster. But much like Ebukam, he has likely peaked. After all, it’s a defensive front that includes Aaron Donald, and that is a tremendous boost for any pass rusher.

Obo is dependable, yes. But in the final year of his rookie contract, he has not taken that same leap in production that others in his role have taken. Meanwhile, the Rams have Terrell Lewis and Chris Garrett waiting in the wings, plus a very deep and talented group of Edge rushers in the NFL Draft class of 2022.