LA Rams NFL calendar won’t have much of a break this year

The LA Rams played their last game of football on February 13, 2022.  While that was just two weeks ago (and a day), the NFL’s calendar of events is already packed for March 2022 with a series of crucial events that will include:

The annual NFL Scouting Combine  (March 1-7, 2022)
The deadline to use either Franchise or Transition tags on players (March 8, 2022 – 1:00 pm PT)
The ‘legal tampering’ period for unrestricted free agents (March 14-16, 2022)
The 2022 NFL year begins (March 16, 2022 – 1:00 pm PT)
NFL Trading period resumes (March 16, 2022 – 1:00 pm PT)
Annual League Meeting (March 27-30)

Of course, the most important to the LA Rams from an NFL roster perspective is the beginning of the 2022 NFL Free Agency market. Before the LA Rams can actively execute contracts for new free agents, the team will need to create the appropriate cap space to do so. As of February 28, 2022, the LA Rams are at a salary cap deficit of (-$13,172,364) per Spotrac.com.

Show me the money

If the LA Rams restructure contracts in 2022 and retire Andrew Whitworth, the team could free up approximately $41.5 million of available NFL Salary cap space for 2022.  Of course, extending quarterback Matthew Stafford can lower his $23 million salary-cap hit and afford the Rams additional cap space. But if the Rams hope to benefit from those moves, they must already be deeply involved in those talks already.

Of course, the Rams will also be keeping an eye on the 2022 NFL Draft, scheduled to take place from April 28 through April 30, 2022. The draft will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada which is relatively near Los Angeles, California.

There is a lot riding on the LA Rams 2022 NFL season. Many expect the team to re-sign players rapidly. So far, the Rams are not showing signs of following that rush to extend players. If the team was indeed planning to extend a majority of players, there would be a larger number of reports indicating that the Rams were restructuring player contracts, much as the team had done in 2021.

Of course, last season the LA Rams were at a $32 million deficit. But keep in mind that the Rams only extended a handful of inexpensive players, as well as signing veteran WR DeSean Jackson. The hope for the team this offseason is to find significantly more activity and effort in re-signing players this year.

Now, can they find the money to do so? Time is running out.