5 free agents the LA Rams could sign today, and should

Guess what folks?  After all the waiting, posturing, him-hawing, and countless statements of “It’s going to happen!” from anyone remotely associated with the LA Rams organization regarding adding free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to the LA Rams roster, almost all of the hurdles have been cleared.

Almost all.

The biggest non-contractual hold-up before the NFL season started was the NFL roster regulations, which would have compelled the LA Rams to forfeit a player on the roster in order to sign OBJ.  Then, the Rams would have been compelled to carry an injured OBJ on the roster all the way through final roster cuts before assigning him to Injured Reserve with the opportunity for him to return and compete in the 2022 season.

That bridge has now been crossed. Well, partially crossed at least. The Rams can sign Odell Beckham Jr. to a contract, designate him to a conditional IR roster to return later in the season, and have almost no impact on the roster, per se.

What remains to be hammered out is the typical NFL-player contract terms. Sounds simple? It’s not just yet.

The ambiguity of how to value a player’s anticipated contribution when that player is not yet medically cleared to play is a matter of estimation. NFL teams should, by design, be cautious and conservative in that assessment of value.

LA Rams free agency options

But the LA Rams are window dressing their 53-man roster already, just two weeks into the season. This is not some fall cleaning fiasco, the Rams roster is already getting decimated by multiple injuries to running back, offensive line, edge rushers, running backs, and now, defensive backs.

So it makes complete sense for the LA Rams’ free agency search to be a bit more ambitious, and seek out some players who can deliver solid production to the team sooner than later. The LA Rams have to view the roster, not just for immediate bridgework roster needs, but towards a longer and more strategic view that places veterans on this roster who can deliver in the heat of their late-season playoff run.

Signing a free agent is not about the next game. It’s about the rest of the season, and the sooner the Rams’ free agency search finds the player and then signs him to the roster, the better the team finds itself. In 2021, the Rams traded for RB Sony Michel, and OLB Von Miller, and signed free agent WR Odell Beckham Jr.

All three made significant contributions to help the Rams get to and through the NFL Playoffs, and even to winning Super Bowl LVI. Last season’s lesson should not be so quickly forgotten this year, as the Rams roster is, once more, in need of reinforcements. So who should the Rams have on speed dial?  Here is one free agent who is a familiar name: