Rob Havenstein and 10 Rams who have plenty to prove in their contract year

The Los Angeles Rams may have a young and rapidly improving roster, but this is a team that has many players in the last year of their contracts. The Rams face parting ways with 31 free agents at the end of the 2025 NFL season, which is more than a third of the team's overall roster, even at the 90-man training camp strength.

Of course, some players will be released before and as the team pares down to the 53-man Rams roster. That will reduce the number of expiring contract organically. But it does serve notice to the team's front office and to fans alike that the 2025 Rams training camp hold much more to team than reordering the hierarchy. This year is the culmination of players who have everything on the line.

Competition? You'll find plenty of that in Rams OTAs, mini-camp, and training camp. For fans, its competition for starting roles, snap counts, and the opportunity to make plays on game day. But to the players themselves, this is direct competition that means win or go home. Of the 89 players currenly on the Rams roster, only 53 players will advance on the active roster for the 2025 NFL season. Another 16 players will wade into 2025 on the team's practice squad.

That translates into 20 players whose time with this team will inevitably come to a close.

The top priority for these 11 players may seem to be about winning a starting role, or to earn a lion's share of snaps on game day. That may be true for some. But the ultimate goal of every player currently on the Rams roster right now is to be one of the 53 players who is rewarded for a successful training camp and preseason by advancing into the regular season.

Nobody wants to be released.

For some, the Rams are a safe haven, the next bus stop to an NFL career that has taken that player to many NFL cities. This is simply the next opportunity to stick with an NFL team.

For other, the Rams are the only version of the NFL that the player has ever known. Whether as a player in their second year of professional football, or a player of many years of NFL experience. The Los Angeles Rams are more than an employer. This is home. They are family. And while the realization that it may all come to a final chapter some day, no player wants that conclusion to happen this year.

So, which players are fighting for their lives in terms of NFL careers? Let's take a closer look at 11 of the players who are fighting for NFL relevancy in 2025:

(11) - Nate Landman - ILB

You can consider the presence of veteran inside linebacker Nathan Landman on the team in several ways. He could be a camp body, a guy who is on the team merely to make the numbers work out well in training camp. You may view him as a depth piece, a veteran with enough experience under his belt to ensure that the Rams have ample depth in stock for the upcoming season.

You may even view him as a veteran with starting experience in the NFL at the inside linebacker position who as added to the team specifically to compete for a starting role. After all, he is a 6-foot-3, 235-pound powerhouse who three years of NFL experience, appeared in 36 games, and started 23 times.

Landman last played for the Atlanta Falcons and spearheaded the defense for HC Raheem Morris. As such, he has an inherent understanding of the Rams' defensive strategies. While Landman was not extended by the Falcons, he is a solid run-stuffer. Pro Football Focus awarded him an impressive 73.9 run defense grade in 2024. He played 544 defensive snaps and recorded 81 tackles, three forced fumbles, one deflected pass, zero tackles for a loss, while missing seven tackles.

Landman played for DC Jimmy Lake in 2024, and followed Lake to the Rams when he hired on as the team's Senior Defensive Assistant.

Initially viewed as a depth piece, I've modified my projection of Landman in this defense. Much like the Rams signing center Coleman Shelton, Landman is a veteran imported to provide direct competition for the starting role held in 2024 by undrafted ILB Omar Speights.

Will Landman with the job? If nothing else, his presence on the roster in training camp ensures that the best player gets the starting role.