With Bobby Wagner's release, are any LA Rams veterans safe?

OLB Leonard Floyd

The upside of veteran outside linebacker Leonard Floyd is far greater than what he has delivered to the LA Rams in the past two seasons. In 2021, he started hot but then got dinged up and was much less prominent in the second half of the season. In 2022, he struggled out of the gates, some believed due to a lingering injury, before turning hot again in the second half of the season.

While the Rams believe in Floyd, those extended periods where he has struggled to get to the quarterback has strained the rest of the defense. The Rams have already released Bobby Wagner, saving the team an estimated $8 million against the 2023 NFL salary cap. But more needs to happen. Have the Rams approached Leonard Floyd over reworking his current contract? After all, he is among the Top 4 on the team in terms of salary cap hit for 2023. And that would explain the mysterious vanishing Tweet he sent out recently:

The Rams are making their rounds right now, testing and poking at the current roster to get under the mandated 2023 NFL salary cap in time for the start of a new season. But getting there is only the beginning. Even with Wagner gone, the Rams must still free up $7 million of salary cap space at the bare minimum. If the team intends to sign any free agents or pay rookies selected in the 2023 NFL Draft, that money will need to be freed up as well.

No, this is not a 'sky is falling' warning. Merely the fact that the LA Rams have a long ways to go in terms of salary cap management in order to be ready for even the most basic and obvious roster moves for the 2023 NFL season. But the more the Rams want to pay for in terms of new players, the more the team will need to shave from their current payroll.

Freeing up money will involve negotiating with the Top-10 highest paid players, ending with center Brian Allen. Whether or not Floyd will work with the Rams to save some 2023 dollars is not the point. If the Rams need to save the money, Floyd's spot on the roster is not quite 100 percent safe.