4 free agents Rams would ruin the offseason by signing in 2025

In any new NFL season, the Los Angeles Rams have restocked the roster to the specifications of GM Les Snead and HC Sean McVay. On some occasions, the plans for what the team intends to do are easily detected with the first or second personnel action. On other occasions, the plans are a bit more complex, and it's not until the 90th player is signed to the Rams roster that it all makes complete sense. I believe restocking the roster in 2025 will be more like the second version.

The Rams have certainly been quite active already, and the 2025 NFL Free Agency market has yet to open. That has not stopped the team from trading IOL Jonah Jackson, putting WR Cooper Kupp on the trading block, restructuring QB Matthew Stafford's contract, or resigning LT Alaric Jackson, C Dylan McMahon, or WR Tutu Atwell.

And it 'feels' as though there are many more moves left on the chessboard by Grand Master Les Snead to make. But there are moves to avoid as well. After all, it doesn't take much water to make a high-performance engine sputter. So the front office, in an effort to improve the team, cannot slip and put the Rams roster in retrograde.

I'm not accusing players in this list of being a locker room 'cancer,' by any means. But there is a delicate metamorphosis of converting young players who know very little about lift in the NFL into consistently high quality performers and perhaps even elite players. That process seldom carries talented rookies to their optimal level. One of the reasons why is that they pick up less than optimal habits from veteran examples.

Peer pressure may not have much influence on persons who live in remote locations in the world. But in any professional sport, the pay-it-forward mindset is vital. Rams fans know how the influence of meticulous perfectionists like All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald, All-Pro defensive back Jalen Ramsey, and All-Pro wide receiver Cooper Kupp set the bar very high for young players who learned from them.

But the opposite can be true too. Players who hit one solid season, and then cash in on that production, are not necessarily bringing that same mindset and work ethic to the table. And a team that has built a roster around passion for the game has to be wary of newcomers whose greatest motivation is the 'bag of cash,' that they hope to gain in their next contract.

So who should the Rams avoid signing in the 2025 NFL Free Agency market? Here are four I would steer clear of:

(4) - DT Javon Hargrave

Any move that strengthens the Rams roster and weakens the San Francisco 49ers roster is a good thing, right? Well, only if it truly strengthens the Rams roster at a value-added price. And with his return from a rather serious tricep injury in 2024, I'm not convince that DT Javon Hargrave is a player who will bring his A-Game to the Rams if signed. After all, we learned from the addition of former All-Pro cornerback Tre'Davious White that sometimes coming back from an injury is a much longer process than fans might hope.

It's not that I believe that Hargrave will be an immediate and utter bust. I simply love the direction taken by the team in stocking the defensive front with passionate fun-loving wrecking balls who have one another's backs, and I don't see Hargrave as an immediate fit. His next contract projection puts him in the $21+ million APY category from overthecap.com, and there is simply too much risk to put that much money in the pocket of one player.

It's not that I am resolutely opposed to adding a veteran defensive lineman to the team. I'm simply opposed to adding Hargrave. He has played four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, and now just two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. Each time, his APY increases dramatically. And yet with each new contract, his duration with that team shrinks. Right now, the 49ers plan to release Javon Hargrave, just two seasons into his four-year contract:

The question is, why?

Yes., we can rationalize that the 49ers are cutting costs to create sufficient space to extend QB Brock Purdy. But no team is foolish enough to release players who simply are playing well enough to deserve higher paying contracts. And therein lies the rub.

Hargrave may bring a lot to his next team. But I, for one, do not want the Rams to risk derailing the chemistry and progress of the young defensive front to experiment whether he can add something to this group. Not at his estimated $21 million APY contract cost. Truth be told, I would struggle at half that cost.