Just how drastic is this LA Rams remodel/rebuild anyway?

The presumption that the LA Rams know that the roster is plastered with holes and shallow depth at a number of important positional groups may or may not be correct. But the belief that the LA Rams front office is prepared to wade into the 2023 NFL Free Agency Market with fistfuls of cash to address the LA Rams roster shortcomings appears more and more unlikely.

There may or may not be a limited source of salary cap funds right now. But the evidence so far suggests that the Rams are not exactly swimming in available money. The NFLPA website that tracks the latest available salary cap space of NFL teams shows the Rams at just under $11 million. And that only reflects 44 players under contract for 2023. The off-season rules are the Top-51, so the Rams' next seven-player signings will reduce their cap space accordingly.

'Get him, get rid of him' has finally caught up to the LA Rams

We did a shallow dive into the remaining players on the defensive side of the football. Right now, the Rams' defense only boasts 21 of the 44 players on the current roster. Even more alarmingly, many of those players had limited roles in 2022.

The LA Rams front office appear to be calling the shots to a degree this offseason. The Rams past practices of 'gotta have him,' 'gotta re-sign him,' and 'gotta get rid of him,' has been nothing short of miraculous movement by LA Rams General Manager Les Snead. But it's an awfully inefficient way to restock an NFL team roster.

The Rams are not strangers to what this team is undertaking this season. The Rams did a similar purge after the 2019 NFL season, when the team's offense fell off the mark and the team finished just 9-7. Then, it was the LA Rams offense that purged key contributors: Waiving veteran RB Todd Gurley and trading WR Brandin Cooks. But even as the Rams succeeded in forging a competitive team in 2020, and an NFL Championship team in 2021, the financial picture in 2020 was horrendous. To survive, the Rams kicked the can down the road into 2023 and 2024.

Money matters make roster moves difficult

Finances surely are playing a part in the Rams' roster decisions, perhaps a greater part than we realize. Even as the Rams waived veteran OLB Leonard Floyd, the cuts went far deeper, as the team shed seven Reserve/Future players that just signed to the team two months earlier. Even more alarming, the Rams only tendered three of their young players, leaving such promising players as DT Marquise Copeland to worry if he will be re-signed by the team:

The LA Rams roster standing at 44 players on March 20, 2023, is a veritable field of land mines, folks. That's not hyperbole. It's just common sense. With so few players, how many starting positions are up in the air for 2023? Of 11 defensive starters for the Rams, I can only comfortably project four starters: DL Aaron Rodgers, OLB Michael Hoecht, ILB Ernest Jones, and DB Cobie Durant. And you could make an argument against either Hoecht or Durant, and you would have legitimate grounds to do so.

Is this a 2023 or 2024 strategy?

We will be looking at where the LA Rams offense stands for the time being, but without stealing my own thunder, the roster is in much better shape on the offensive side of the football. The reason is that the offense needs depth, and if forced to do so, the Rams have 11 offensive starters on the roster right now. The only starter who is no longer under contract right now is offensive guard David Edwards, and the Rams have multiple players who had opportunities at starting in 2022 to fill that role.

Even WR Allen Robinson remains on the Rams roster, and it may very well be that the two sides agree to work together in 2023 and see what happens. After all, there is little to no cap relief in any scenario that removes Robinson from the Rams in 2023. So however the Rams resolve the Allen Robinson problem will give evidence about the Rams ultimate strategy: If the Rams resolve Robinson's trade request by keeping him, then the Rams are focused on their salary cap overall. But if the Rams bite the bullet and part ways with Robinson, then the team is clearly aiming to clear the books for the 2024 NFL season.

LA Rams have a lot of work to do

Even as we continue to see reports of the LA Rams looking for veteran help, I do not see evidence that any such move is imminent. Right now, the LA Rams barely have the available funds to get the roster to the 51-man threshold. Any player beyond that point will need to be on an NFL minimum contract.

Few, if any, NFL veterans seek out an opportunity to play at the NFL minimum for a team that will be bursting with young rookie talent. In the past, the LA Rams had a reputation as a team at the cusp of an NFL Championship. From what we have witnessed in the 2023 off-season, it's a safe bet to conclude that the Rams can no longer count on that reputation to lure veterans into playing for the team in the 2023 NFL season.

That's not to say that the Rams have surrendered, or that this team's goal is to lose as often as possible to maximize the value of the 2024 NFL Draft picks. In fact, quite the opposite. It seemed that the LA Rams coaching hires not only had an eye on developing young rookiess, but in coaching up those younger prospects into NFL-ready players. We have touted the incredible track record of DL Coach Eric Henderson, and his ability to coach up NFL ready players from undrafted prospects. For 2023, the Rams appear to have taken his skillset to heart, and infused that same skillset wherever possible on the coaching staff.

2023 is an exciting time for LA Rams fans

There is risk to any fanbase from enjoying too much success. It becomes set, part of the annual expectations, and creates unattainable goals that simply cannot be met. If the LA Rams hold true to what appears to be an objective of loading up this team with an incredible number of rookies, does that mean that the Rams fans will have nothing to cheer for?

I suppose that will depend on what each fan truly appreciates about the game. The LA Rams may not end up the 2023 NFL season with a better than .500 record, but what if the team finds one or two rookies who put up Pro Bowl type numbers? The 2023 NFL Draft is loaded with very good talent, and the more players drafted from the Top-150, the better off this team may be.

I cannot believe that the thrill of watching a young rookie develop into an NFL elite player is something that only I enjoy. It's the thrill of the journey, of watching young prospects contribute more and more toward the success of the Rams that is a real thrill. And it seems as though the LA Rams are opening the door of opportunity to a promising NFL future to 40+ rookies this year.

Rams restoring roster depth

The LA Rams discovered something unexpected in 2022. When the team's elite starters fell to injury, the Rams roster was too shallow and too inexperienced to handle the sudden heavy workload. Call it roster atrophy. The depth players did not have meaningful work for the team, which gave the coaching staff a false sense of security and the Rams front office unsupported confidence.

That confidence in what the Rams had accelerated the adversity that the team faced in 2022. The Rams carried just eight offensive linemen into the 2022 NFL seaon on the 53-man roster. But, by Week 4, the Rams had already blown through all of the reserves and were signing offensive linemen off the street.

The same can be said of the team's secondary, a positional group that loaded up by drafting four rookies. But the Rams promoted multiple rookies to starting roles, with limited success. Meanwhile, the Rams jettisoned a number of veteran depth players, including three outside linebackers, one defensive back, and one running back.

Laying the foundation

Okay, so let's cut the mustard. Just how drastic is this LA Rams remodel/rebuild anyway? It's deep, down to the very foundations of the LA Rams roster. There are plenty of holes in the Rams roster, but I believe that the Rams 2023 NFL Draft will truly aim at drafting the best player available (BPA) and using the post-draft signing period of undrafted rookie free agents to address the positional needs that remain.

That may not be a bad thing. The 2023 draft class is loaded with outside linebackers, cornerbacks, offensive tackles and offensive centers, and even has some pretty incredible defensive linemen. If the LA Rams view their current strategy along the lines of a two-year process, then the team is perfectly positioned to land some incredibly talented players in 2023 who will play significant roles in 2024.

While that is not the same thing as the Rams 'tanking' in 2023, it does open the door to the Rams laying a solid roster foundation for the future of the team. That could mean that the Rams will experiment far more with the offensive playbook with new formations, new packages and even a much broader rotation of players that will discourage an offensive exclusively dependant upon QB Matthew Stafford targeting WR Cooper Kupp or TE Tyler Higbee this season.

That could mean much more work for RB Kyren Williams, TE Brycen Hopkins or Hunter Long, WRs Tutu Atwell, Ben Skowronek, Lance McCutcheon, or even Jacob Harris. That would be very welcome news to an LA Rams team that continues to 'load up' with offensive weapons that sit on the bench and end up in mothballs before their rookie contracts expire.

The LA Rams are no longer building the roster from the top down, but rather from the bottom up. It may take some getting used to, but if you keep an open mind, I think you are going to love what this team does in 2023.