Rams release of CB Tre Tomlinson is just the tip of the 2025 offseason iceberg

The Los Angeles Rams front office is not the type of workplace that shuts down when the players take the field. But I don't think that I am embellishing the activity level for Rams GM Les Snead to compare the week or so before the start of the new NFL season to the Christmas season for retail stores.

In other words, business is about to pick up.

While the offseason has next to nothing in terms of real football news, as in players competing on the gridiron, the strategy and chess moves that are on full display are a bit of a thinking man's game. After all, all 32 NFL teams have limited resources. And all 32 teams have the same goal, building a Super Bowl winner. The only variable is that all 32 NFL general managers have a different strategy towards that goal.

To that end, Rams GM Les Snead is not one to pull punches, look the other way, or miss a chance to improve the Rams roster, whether at the top, middle, or rock bottom of the depth chart. So it's no surprise to learn that the team has just released formerly drafted cornerback Tre'Vius Tomlinson.

When I examined the Rams' roster and depth chart at the cornerback position, even I was a bit amazed to see how many Rams players filled that position from the 2024 NFL season. The Rams' current secondary already boasts these players at the cornerback position:

1. Cobie Durant
2. Emmanuel Forbes (Claimed off waivers from Washington Commanders)
3. Derion Kendrick (Off IR)
4. Josh Wallace
5. Darious Williams
6. ** Tre Tomlinson (Off IR, just released) **
7. Shaun Jolly
8. Cam Lampkin
9. Charles Woods
10. A.J. Green

The team had a kaleidoscope of cornerbacks who played significant defensive snaps in 2024. The team dealt Tre'Davious White to the Baltimore Ravens. The team replaced him with Ahkello Witherspoon, whose contract has since expired. And the team leaned heavily upon CBs Darious Williams and Cobie Durant for much of the 2024 season.

But even with that history, I don't know that I'm comfortable locking in anyone as the starting cornerback for the 2025 NFL season just yet. Everyone had good moments. And yes, everyone had facepalm moments. With so many players already on the Rams roster competing for a roster spot and playing time in 2025, the team appears to have a sufficient quantity of cornerbacks. What is missing is that level of quality that true Super Bowl contenders need at the cornerback position.

Waiving CB Tre Tomlinson gives him a chance to be signed to a new team and get a new lease on the life of his NFL career. But what can we interpret from this move from the Rams perspective? Quite a bit actually. Such as:

(4) - Rams could have CB Ahkello Witherspoon in 2025 training camp

While Rams fans may not be sold on the quality of veteran cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, here are some facts that may put his performance on the Rams roster into a new perspective for you. Ahkello Witherspoon has earned the starting role in the Rams secondary in the past two seasons. Curiously, he had accomplished that feat despite not being on the roster in time for OTAs or training camp.

And right now, Witherspoon's expired contract means that he may not be on the Rams roster for OTAs or training camp in 2025 either. That may not be how events play out this year. In a recent interview, Rams GM Les Snead indicated that the Rams will 'definitely' be in contact with him.

The thing is, Witherspoon has earned starting roles in both 2023 and 2024, despite not having the luxury or working with his teammates throughout the summer weeks to prepare for the season. How much better would he be able to perform with the luxury of training camp and OTAs? I, for one, would love to see it.

(3) - Rams may lean on Derion Kendrick and Emmanuel Forbes in 2025

While I would not hold my breath that either returning veteran cornerbacks Derion Kendrick or Emmanuel Forbes hold the key to a better Rams secondary in 2025, the release of Tre Tomlinson does suggest that the Rams view him as falling behind either veteran on the offseason depth chart. And that gives a keyhole view in terms of how the team may construct the secondary in 2025.

The team has to consider both Cobie Durant and Darious Williams as the front-runners to start in 2025. If the team manages to extend CB Ahkello Witherspoon, the team gets their bigger corner who can handle taller targets. But they could be given rest breaks throughout the games with rotational roles from either Kendrick and or Forbes this season.

That is not to say that I've mapped out the entire depth chart for the secondary before the 2025 NFL season arrives. But as the team now stands, if not a quality shutdown cornerback, there does not appear to be much wiggle room for more players with more potential than production right now.

If the team is looking to upgrade the cornerback position, I'd look for the team to be active in free agency over the 2025 NFL Draft.

(2) - Rams offseason cuts may be deeper than first thought

The LA Rams will have over $50 million in available salary cap space in 2025. We were able to rattle off five cuts, trades, and contract restructures that could almost double the salary cap space for the team as the 2025 NFL Free Agency market nears. By releasing Tre Tomlinson now, the team not only gives him a fighting chance of signing with a new team to fill their 90-man roster, but the Rams save another $910,037 against their 2025 salary cap.

Of course, thanks to the 51-man cut off for calculating the offseason salary cap of every NFL team, that savings will not move the needle for the team in terms of creating cap space. But that is only part of the story. After all, the Rams just waived one of ten cornerbacks from the roster. Are more cuts coming? The Rams roster felt rather lopsided throughout 2024, carrying four running backs and four tight ends on the active roster. Will the team take a more traditionally sound approach to the roster in 2025?

If so, the positions likely to have more players on the roster in 2025 include:

• Wide Receiver
• Offensive linemen
• Outside linebackers
• Defensive linemen

The Rams need to increase numbers at these positions to handle the rapid rotational needs, adequate depth, and allow for

(1) - Is Rams front office targeting a dream veteran cornerback?

The Los Angeles Rams' young defense overachieved in 2024. But if the team hopes to compete with the best of the best teams in 2025, the team needs to invest in a rather lopsided secondary. The team has a lot of talent at safety, but the cornerback position feels light on talent and heavy in numbers. That is why we projected the team giving a hard look at FA cornerback Paulson Adebo.

But per overthecap.com, the 2025 NFL Free Agency market appears to be loaded with cornerbacks. While the Rams defensive core is clearly built on the backs of young pass rushers and defensive linemen, the team has not been so fiercely focused in terms of the secondary. The team signed safety Kamren Curl and cornerback Darious Williams in 2024, and both players have worked out.

I can't point to a specific statement by either HC Sean McVay or GM Les Snead on the subject, but the team 'feels' like a volcano of a blockbuster signing that is about to erupt. And the more I convince myself that is the direction that the team will go in the offseason, the more I see cornerback above all else. After all, the Rams targeted All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey to begin the push for Super Bowl LVI.

That formula hasn't changed. And so I expect history to repeat itself. And I will welcome it when it happens.

As always, thanks for reading.

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