LA Rams extended not 1 but 3 Qualifying Tender Offers

The LA Rams' current roster is now up to 45 players, but how did the Rams get there? The math of what information we had received just didn't add up. The details have not been officially reported, but I suspected that the Rams have extended Qualifying Tender Offers to not one, but three of the team's Exclusive Rights Free Agents.

We know that the team made such an offer to OLB Michael Hoecht because his agent shared the news. But that was not shared by the LA Rams yet. And upon examining the latest LA Rams' salary cap summary at Spotrac.com, I see that Michael Hoecht is only one of seveal players contracted to play for the LA Rams at the price of $940,000, the cost of a 2023 Qualifying Tender Offer for ERFAs.

Okay, so I felt like I was on the right track. So I flipped over to see what OverTheCap.com had to say about the LA Rams' free agency status. It was there that I found the answer that I was looking for: Namely two other players who were designated as Exclusive Rights Free Agents appear to be back with the Rams in 2023 on tender offers are ILB Christian Rozeboom, and DE Jonah Williams.

Christian Rozeboom

ILB Christian Rozeboom is a logical player to compete for the vacated LA Rams roster spot of ILB Bobby Wagner. Standing 6-foot-2 and weighing a robust 230 pounds, Rozeboom has all of the size and power needed by the Rams' defense in an inside linebacker starter.

Primarily a special teamer in 2022, Rozeboom has quietly but steadily put in the time and the work to earn his shot at a larger role on the Rams' defense. I like the synergy and complementary potential of a Rams defense that lines up Ernest Jones and Rozeboom side by side and shared that hope nearly two years ago. Better late than never, right? Both are solid, but Rozeboom seems to have a larger pass coverage radius, while Jones seems to fit more of the run-stuffing backer role.

Shaun Jolly

Any projection for DB Shaun Jolly's role in 2023 is purely speculative, because the young man played in two games, and only saw action on six special team snaps. For starters, he stands 5-foot-9, weighs 180 pounds, and will be back for the 2023 NFL season. Jolly was signed to the LA Rams 53-man roster off the Cleveland Browns practice squad when the Rams needed secondary help. In many ways, Jolly resembles former LA Rams DB Darious Williams, which is likely one reason the Rams signed him as roster depth.

Even as Jolly and Williams compared in similar fashion, the Rams secondary seemed to regress in 2022, and Jolly seemed to stagnate. That should all change with the arrival of Jimmy Lake and return of Aubrey Pleasant to the Rams coaching staff in 2023. Truth be told, I believe that both coaches already have plans to give Jolly every shot to compete for a much larger role on the defense in 2023.

So it seems that the Rams have been quietly active. While not on par with signing a major NFL veteran to a multi-year multi-million dollar contract, the Rams subtle savviness in bringing back Michael Hoecht, Christian Rozeboom, and Shaun Jolly are high value free agency (re-)signings that are solid steps to reassembling the Rams roster for the 2023 NFL season.