NFL Rumors: ESPN Insider touts LA Rams offloading veterans

Unthinkable Rams roster transactions are suddenly on the table

This is not a new concept. We pointed out the likelihood of multiple trades or outright releases that were likely on the table for the LA Rams after their 2022 NFL season, and the trades of Ramsey and WR Allen Robinson were only two of the options on the table for the Rams right now. The Rams' roster ran the table as long as they could, but now the Rams are likely to have serious decisions to make. These five roster transactions, once unthinkable, are now all possible and may even be more and more likely as the Rams seek ways to shed their salary cap excess and start over.

The perception from NFL fans is the belief that somehow Jalen Ramsey is an underperforming defensive back with a huge contract that keeps him well-paid for years to come. That is actually not the case. Ramsey's 2023 salary is only guaranteed for $5 million, and he is only due to be paid $17 million in 2023. That translates into one of the Top NFL defensive backs being paid as the 8th highest-paid defensive back right now before a new wave of NFL Free Agency contracts pushes Ramsey out of the Top-10 at the position. Don't listen to fans on Twitter who want to steal Ramsey from the Rams. He's a bargain to a Playoff-hopeful NFL team, even at the cost of a first-round pick.

It's the potential to land a Top-3 NFL cornerback at a fraction of Fair Market Value (FMV) salary that has attracted so many teams to ask about trading for Ramsey. As far as long-term obligations, Ramsey's contract is completely severable after the 2023 NFL season with no dead money. It's the ultimate NFL rental opportunity for a savvy NFL team to land a true show-stopper defensive back for a Super Bowl push. It's merely their tolerance for risk that dictates whether other teams pull the trigger. LA Rams fans already know that their own GM, riverboat gambler Les Snead, would already have Ramsey on the roster.

Rams roster needs a 'realignment'

There is no magic to the LA Rams' success. The Rams' front office has not been entirely successful in their decisions, nor has the front office been entirely unsuccessful. That is an important distinction. What has propelled the team into the NFL Playoffs is how in synch the Rams personnel department has been with the coaching staff. Over the years, that alignment has not been as readily apparent in the team's past two NFL drafts. In fact, even the rookies who seemed to be custom fits for the team in 2020 no long appeared to have much value to the team in 2022.

This LA Rams coaching staff has been picked over extensively each off-season, and in the aftermath of losing key positional coaches, the specifications for the players and the very philosophy for the team's defense have changed multiple times. The players did not suddenly get 'bad' as much as the role and responsibility to play in the newly designed Rams defense changed dramatically.

Over the natural course of events, the Rams' foundational pieces were crumbling even as the team tried to reach for the stars one more time. While the injuries for 2022 were way overboard, it did fast-track an inevitable need for the team to pay more attention to the depth and quality of this team's depth. After all, the Rams were no longer landing starters like Sebastian Joseph Day or Jordan Fuller in the sixth round of the NFL Draft. The Rams' front office needed to reset their board.