5 FA options for LA Rams to shake things up before the draft

The LA Rams may not have a lot of early picks for the 2022 NFL Draft, but that won’t stop this team from assembling a solid and successful NFL roster. In fact, the LA Rams, finally free of the albatross around their neck of carrying a $50 million dead cap weight in 2021, are enjoying the NFL Free Agent market once more.

In fact, over the past three seasons, the Rams have had to fight through over $100 million of dead salary cap space, due to the termination of several highly lucrative contracts. If you know the impact that dead cap space truly has on the NFL teams, much of what the Rams have been able to do over the past five seasons has been nothing short of miraculous.

The Rams followed up that third-worst dead cap ranking in 2020 with a fourth-worst dead cap ranking in 2021 at over $49.4 million. And yet, the LA Rams remained over .500 throughout 2020 and 2021. In fact, the Rams have bested the .500 mark despite no first-round draft picks and languishing with the least amount of money to work with.

How has the team managed to do so?

Well, the team has been fairly aggressive so far in trading with other teams. In fact, the team certainly helped their Super Bowl run in 2021 by trading for RB Sony Michel from the New England Patriots and for OLB Von Miller from the Denver Broncos.  While Miller has since signed with the Buffalo Bills and Michel remains unsigned, the Rams will likely need to take a different approach to 2022.

As defending NFL Champions, the LA Rams has something very unique to offer NFL players as an enticement to sign with them. A chance to become a member of just one of six NFL teams in history to repeat as Super Bowl Champions.  While it is a very difficult task to accomplish, the Rams are the only NFL team with the chance to do so in 2022. So who might bite at the chance to become part of everlasting NFL history? Who indeed. What about Odell Beckham Jr.?