LA Rams We-not-me? Run it back rings awfully hollow right now

Cherchez la femme or follow the money

In detective films, Cherchez la femme means look to the woman. In political scandals, the similar key to solving the chain of corruption is to simply follow the money. Curiously, both phrases have more universal applications whenever drama or controversy appears in the public eye.

For example, the state of the LA Rams as June 2022 begins is a far cry different than February 2022, isn’t it? You needn’t be glued to your smartphone to see that conditions with the LA Rams are a bit different, aren’t they? That entire we-not-me mantra, and the Run it Back promises all seem to ring rather hollow right now. The first chink in the armor? Veteran outside linebacker Von Miller pulled a ‘Billy Joe and Bobby Sue,’ took the money, and ran to the Buffalo Bills.

Aaron Donald avalanche!

But that may have only been the first snowfall, but it was not the last, to create the current avalanche of headaches for the LA Rams front office. You see, the LA Rams had planned a rather significant war chest of salary cap funding to entice veteran OLB Von Miller to re-sign with the LA Rams. When that fell through, the team looked for other roster investments to make to bolster the overall talent and fit.

The LA Rams signed veteran wide receiver Allen Robinson and veteran inside linebacker Bobby Wagner to multi-year deals. And using the same snowfall analogy is when the first blizzard swept through the ranks of the LA Rams roster.

The final snowstorm, the one that truly drove the Rams’ situation with defensive lineman Aaron Donald to the point of his threatening to retire once more, was the team renegotiating an extension for quarterback Matthew Stafford. Now, on the surface, that was an expected and logical deal. It was even heralded in the public press release as a win for the LA Rams as quarterback Matthew Stafford reportedly left money on the table to ensure that the Rams would be able to sign additional players to help the team in 2022.

But here is where the trouble begins…