LA Rams Free Agency lining up contracts for OL

Balancing the checkbook

The LA Rams are learning, getting better, analyzing their gaffes and oversights, and fixing the process to ensure that the team does not repeat those questionable acts. What do I mean? Well, in 2020, the LA Rams had parlayed significant compensation to the likes of All-Pro DL Aaron Donald, QB Jared Goff, WR Brandon Cooks, and RB Todd Gurley.

Those deals not only paid the players top dollar but guaranteed ridiculous sums of money that three of the four never came close to earning. Only Aaron Donald emerged as a true bargain for the Rams organization. The flip side to that 45 was the fact that the Rams had no money to spend on the true backbone of the team, the offensive line. And it was that disparity that prompted us to point out just how “Scrooged” the offensive line was in 2020.

Rams Free Agency is about spending balance

We timed our article about the LA Rams positional spending for good reason. In the article, we noted that the LA Rams were already at 19th amongst NFL teams projected 2022 spending on offensive linemen. That was before any drop due to the potential retirement of OT Andrew Whitworth, which would have cut the Rams projected outlays for offensive linemen in 2022 by nearly half.

If you analyze the data further, you could draw a conclusion that the Rams had more than one financial incentive in place to pay their offensive linemen. Using that same analytical technique, you could also conclude that the Rams may be adding more roster depth to the running back position on offense, and to the linebacker position on defense.