Rams roster makes its 1st cut. Who's next? What clues does this offer fans for 2024?

Now that the LA Rams have reformed the crux of their coaching staff for the 2024 season, the team has accomplished just the first step of an arduous series of five steps that are prerequisites to a successful new NFL season. But the team will soon join many other NFL teams who have jumped to the next steps of their offseason task list.

The Rams had to accept significant salary cap hits in 2023, so significant that the team's dead cap number exceeded $77 million. The Rams, conversely, had faced a much smaller dead cap hit of only $770K. Well, had faced because any adjustments to the Rams roster now will impact both the team's freed up salary cap space in 2024, as well as the carrying charge of dead cap space.

On the matter of teams that may be making cuts to their roster to free up salary cap space, here is a list of players who may be released to create more space:

Players who are outright released from their NFL contracts are an important category to remain aware of. Unlike contracts that are allowed to expire at the end of the NFL season, players who are released do not impact any algorithms used by the NFL to calculate potential awarded compensatory picks in future drafts.

Financial health is an important step in reconfiguring the team's roster to align with the intended roles in store for the upcoming NFL season. Since the Rams, like all NFL teams, have a limited amount of salary cap space in 2024, the team must adjust the compensation to reflect the roles of various players. Starters must earn more money than backups, and backups must earn more than reserves or depth players. Because the team was limited in spending cash in 2023, the process of right-sizing player salaries could be rather prolonged this year.

Rams roster begins to take shape with this initial cut

1. Rams release their first salary cap casualty
2. What does this release mean for the Rams offseason strategy?
3. What could this mean for the teams draft strategy?

Rams release their first salary cap casualty

The team re-signed OT Joseph Noteboom, C Brian Allen, and backup C Coleman Shelton to new contracts before the arrival of the 2022 NFL season, with the anticipation that all three would be starters. That did play out to start 2022, but injury-prone Noteboom and Allen suffered serious injuries once more, and that started a chain of events that derailed the entire season.

Allen was demoted to a backup role in 2023, while Noteboom attempted to start at right guard last season. Ultimately, he too was demoted to the role of primary swing tackle, a role that found him starting eight games for the team last year.

The first cut has been made by the team's front office and one that we and practically everyone else not only expected but had boldly projected three weeks ago. The team is rumored to have informed backup offensive center Brian Allen that he is being released:

While that is certainly news, we believe that more salary cap savings will be forthcoming. But the bold part is that the team will likely renegotiate the contract of swing tackle Joe Noteboom and will work hard to pay him at a rate that is more appropriate for a swing tackle rather than the $20 million per year that he is currently slated to make.

So what could this all mean as the team pivots from 2023 to 2024? While the release of any player is certainly anything but good news for the player, the team has shrewdly begun to set the stage for making wise moves for the 2024 NFL season. What can we decipher from Allen's release? Well, we have several reasons to view this as a positive move.

What does this release mean for the Rams offseason strategy?

If you are one of the many Rams fans that is of the belief that the front office should make the extension of veteran interior offensive lineman Kevin Dotson a priority this offseason, then the news of the team's release of Brian Allen can be seen as a positive sign of the team's intentions to do exactly that.

While the amount committed to the team's offensive line is still a bit dynamic, the Rams have already committed a healthy budget to the team's offensive line in 2024. If the team intends to ante up to afford the likes of right guard Kevin Dotson, and hopefully center Coleman Shelton and left tackle Alaric Jackson, the team will need to shed salary cap dollars from offensive linemen so as not to overextend to that group, and not have sufficient funds to spend in other positional groups this offseason.

The release of Allen frees up more than $4 million, which is approximately what it will cost to submit a Second-Round Qualifying Tender off for restricted free agent Alaric Jackson. That means that Jackson's extension, if the team wishes to move in that direction, will be a net neutral impact to the team's overall salary cap from where it was just yesterday.

But it does mean more than simply the dollars, cents, and sense. The willingness to part ways with a proven starter in the offensive line proves that the team has enough confidence in their ability to restore depth for the group this offseason. The Rams would hesitate to release Allen in a scenario where they were unlikely to re-sign three of the team's offensive line starters for 2024. Allen's dismissal raises the likelihood that contract extensions are on the way for Jackson, Shelton, and perhaps most of all, Dotson.

What could this mean for the teams draft strategy?

Of course, as we all know, what the team desires may not be how history plays out. Despite a full commitment to re-sign veteran OLB Von Miller, Miller opted to take a compensation package offered by the Buffalo Bills in the 2022 offseason, because their offer had higher guaranteed compensation. While painful at the time, Miller's production for the Bills has proven that the Rams dodged a bullet. Now the team must await the decision of Kevin Dotson this offseason, and whether he views his choices as one for the bank or one for the bling.

Still, don't fear the Rams being held for ransom once more. The 2024 NFL Draft is loaded with offensive line talent, and thanks to the versatility of the team's players, the team could fill any offensive line vacancies with a selection at any given position. We know from history that the team has used both Alaric Jackson and Coleman Shelton at multiple positions along the offensive line.

Even rookie left guard Steve Avila, when interviewed by the Fansided team before Super Bowl LVIII, coyly evaded a question about where he might play in 2024, simply responding with a reply that felt rehearsed: "I will always do what is asked of me."

And so, even if the front office fails to extend every offensive lineman, that is not the end all of a perfectly rostered starting offensive line for 2024. The Rams could slide Steve Avila, Alaric Jackson, and or Coleman Shelton around to fill a vacated right guard role, or whichever position is not claimed by returning players.

As far as whether or not the Rams have enough draft picks in the vault to address the offensive line in the 2024 NFL Draft if needed, the answer is a resounding yes. The Rams finally have a pick on Day 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft, and four picks are projected to fall within the first 100 picks. The depth of offensive linemen is so great that even a player selected late on Day 2 could be viewed as a starter.

Brian Allen has competed hard for the LA Rams over his five year NFL career, and I wish him all the best. Still, the Rams have more places to spend salary cap dollars than funds, so freeing up money is a vital step for the team. I believe that when the team has formed their 90-man roster for training camp, it will give everyone a very optimistic outlook for the 2024 NFL season.