LA Rams have yet to add a new player from the NFL Free Agency market

The LA Rams have little to spend in the 2023 NFL Free Agency market, and so far LA Rams GM Les Snead is adhering to the script. The Rams have discussed at length about the need for a reboot, and their offseason strategy could be viewed as strong evidence that the team is truly not about winning a Super Bowl in 2023. In fact, the Rams appear to be a team willing to cast a wide net, fill the roster with rookies, and see who if any can compete at the NFL level.

The LA Rams' current roster has just 44 players under contract, and just over $11 million to spend in signing the other 46 players to fill their 90-man roster. That's a lot of players to fit under the 2023 NFL salary cap, isn't it? Well, thankfully the NFL has a Top-51 rule that only counts the Top-51 paid players against the salary cap through final cuts. Even that has its limits, as the Rams must add seven more players just to get to the 51-man threshold. And so far, the Rams have not been adding new players.

None. Zilch. Nada. Naught. Goose eggs.

Well, let's rephrase that. The LA Rams did trade DB Jalen Ramsey to the Miami Dolphins for backup TE Hunter Long and a 2023 third-round draft pick. The team did re-sign IOL Coleman Shelton to a two-year deal. Finally, the Rams extended qualifying offers to three players: ILB Christian Rozeboom, OLB Michael Hoecht, and DB Shaun Jolly.

Don't hold out for veteran FA roster reinforcements

If you've been hanging your hopes on the LA Rams reinforcing the roster with a wave of veterans, that hope is dimming rapidly. If your hopes for the LA Rams strategy in the 2023 NFL Draft is trading up, that appears to be at some risk right now.

The Rams need players, and it appears that the team will trade back to add more picks. Even if the Rams make 16 selections in the 2023 NFL Draft, this roster needs 30 additional players right now. How many of those with be veteran free agents and how many will be undrafted rookie free agents remains to be seen.

Some have argued that the LA Rams are not looking at optimizing their 2024 NFL Draft value. I'm not convinced of that. The Rams defense is clearly now without Bobby Wagner, Jalen Ramsey, and Nick Scott. The Rams no longer have PK Matt Gay. And the Rams offense appears to be recasting the dice on reforming the 2022 offensive line and hoping for better results in 2023 (without all of the free agent veteran reinforcements).

The LA Rams were 5-12 in 2022, due to plenty of injuries. While there are plenty of players to add to this roster, the Rams do not have the feel of an NFL Playoff team right now. Until the LA Rams free up cap space and start adding high-value veterans, this roster stands to be the youngest in the NFL by a large margin. And with a Top-5 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Rams will still be in range to land a very good quarterback to lead the team into the future.

No, the LA Rams do not need to 'tank,' in 2023. This team will try to win as many games as possible. The problem appears to be that the Rams roster will be incredibly young and inexperienced. That will certainly limit the Rams ceiling in 2023.