LOS ANGELES – In recent years, when a big-name player has been available in the commercial market, the talk around the league has been whether the Los Angeles Rams are interested.
This offseason — a headliner by the Rams trading away star cornerback Jalen Ramsey — there was no such chatter.
“We’re the boring Rams this year,” general manager Les Snead quipped at the league’s annual meetings.
Coming off the worst season since hiring head coach Sean McVay in 2017, the Rams’ season hasn’t been defined by groundbreaking moves — like trading quarterback Matthew Stafford in 2021 or moving in the season to quarterback Vaughn Miller and receiver Odell. The Rams deliberately hit the brakes this season, pausing their aggressive approach in 2023 in an effort not to have to tear down such a heavy roster, and instead setting themselves up to be competitive in the commercial market and in free agency early in 2024.
This is the result of going it all in the past four years as they have attempted to win the Super Bowl. Instead, Snead said, “There was certainly an intent to engineer a healthier and more sustainable roof, so that when we get to a moment where we think, ‘Okay, let’s hit the gas again,’ you have the power to do that.”
This season will focus on building through the draft, something Snead called “really the heartbeat of the franchise,” adding, “If we really believe in And – ing them stills In this sense of the word, we will only give them to our class opponents and not use them. Los Angeles is slated to have 11 draft picks in the April draft, including three in the top 100; last year, the Rams’ first pick came in at No. 104.
While this sounds like a big centerpiece to what was seen as the Rams’ core model, it’s really just another attempt by the LA front office to try to continue to innovate in roster building and not have to completely rebuild. While Rams COO Kevin Dimoff has made it clear Los Angeles isn’t rocking the 2023 season, this has been billed as sort of a prep year for 2024, when the Rams can expect $55 million to $65 million in cap space.
“We always knew, well, that moment would be… we hit the brakes a little bit,” Snead said. “And it’s really a reset, a retooling to be able to figure out who we are. Once we figure out who we are when we start maybe being aggressive or sexy.”
“Discipline” is McVay’s word keeps coming back to her while describing the Rams’ offseason process. Dimoff acknowledged that Los Angeles could continue to “maximize” credit cards and go back to the store and keep spending” by restructuring contracts to create higher salary space, but the franchise was adamant that this was not the way they wanted to continue. build their team.
“We’ve always tried to take as much pain as possible as quickly as possible,” said Tony Pastors, vice president of football management and business. “Let’s not post this. I thought you saw it years ago [Snead] Jared did [Goff] commerce. It was a lot of picks really fast instead of “Hey, we’re going to give you picks for the next three years.”
“Part of the thinking this year, as we’ve kind of revamped some things, is ‘let’s handle a lot of this right now and then kind of ship, make sure we’re ready to go in ’24.'”
McVay said he had conversations with Snead, Demoff and Pastoors well in advance of the 2023 season about understanding what needed to happen “down the road” as the team pushed to aggressively add talent despite most of his tenure.
After the Rams won Super Bowl LVI, the team signed Stafford and wide receiver Cooper Cobb to extension contracts and reworked Aaron Donald’s contract on defense while he weighed the possibility of retirement. The trio will account for $73.8 million — or 34.6% — of the cap’s total commitments in 2023, according to Over the Cap. When the Rams entered into those contracts with three players that Snead called the “weight-bearing walls” of the franchise, Pastors said the team knew “we’re going to be slower in 2023.”
“While I think we hope Matthew [Stafford] and cooper [Kupp] and Aaron [Donald] “I’ve been playing for a long time,” Pastors said, “We’re also realistic to know that very few people play at a high level in their late 30s or even their 40s.” And so this may have been accelerated a little bit last year, but that was always part of the plan.”
Find those cheaper Players will mostly come through the draft. During the first month of free agency, the Rams signed two players—offensive lineman Coleman Shelton and defensive lineman Marquis Copeland, both of whom were on the roster last season. This is the free agency model Los Angeles has followed in recent years: replenishing players they’ve drafted and developing embodiment picks.
The Rams typically rely on the compensatory pick formula to help fill in players they lose in free agency. Los Angeles was given four additional picks in the 2023 draft, all on Day 3. The Rams never again make a first-round selection, after trading the pick to the Detroit Lions as part of the package to acquire Stafford. Unlike last year, the Rams will have a pick in the second round; They are currently set to make their first choice at No. 36.
Now, the Rams are hoping to prepare themselves for the future by focusing on the draft, an area that, despite the “F them picks” jokes, has resulted in a slew of starters and important players losing franchise and winning Super Bowl teams.
While the Rams certainly don’t regret the debt they have to pay off off-season, other decision-makers around the NFL have said — at least publicly — that they don’t want to face the fallout from going all-in.
“We’re trying to work our way up so we don’t just have a rip-off,” Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Bean said. And you see it happen from a team here or there like, ‘Man, we can’t do anything else. We have to get rid of some of these huge paychecks and the only way to do that is to either try to push them way more, making it more difficult or start trading, releasing those strikes and executing them.
“We try not to do that, we want to be competitive every year. And so, some years, you won’t be able to get a big ticket item every year. I know that’s exciting doing that. And listen, we want as many talented players as possible, but We have to take financial responsibility.”
During league meetings, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay told reporters he had read a story that said the Rams had mortgaged their future and were now “paying for it” after winning the Super Bowl because they traded a lot of capital to be in that position.
“For me, that’s what you have to be careful about,” Irsay said.
And while other teams around the league, including the Miami Dolphins, have followed the Rams’ aggressive model, Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Bowles, as he enters his second year of roster rebuilding and drafting, said he sees the draft as “the right way.” To build a team.
The Poles said: “Everyone has their own style.” “With them, you can’t knock the way they did it or anybody with that philosophy does it because they won the Super Bowl. But at the same time, you always have to go back to the draft and do it the right way, in a sense, in my opinion. I’ve seen it all. The jerseys and all that with what everyone was thinking about the draft. I think now it’s changed a little bit.”
In the end, the Rams believe they can make this path work because they have taken a similar path before. Super Bowl LVI was the Rams’ second Super Bowl in four seasons, and the team that lost Super Bowl LIII to the New England Patriots had three players remaining from the starting lineup—Donald Whitworth and right tackle Rob Havenstein—in both games.
In the two years after losing the Super Bowl, the Rams were aggressive in reshaping their roster, including using their high-market picks to acquire Ramsey, Stafford, and Miller and then using their remaining capital to fill out the heavyweight top roster.
“Maybe the difference is this year,” Dimov said, “I don’t think you can look at this team and say we’re one player away from winning the Super Bowl the way we might have looked at it the last few years.” “[We’re] Maybe a few players are away from winning the Super Bowl. How do we start acquiring these players instead of saying, “Hey, we’re going to start creating all this space for one player.”
“And I have no idea what our roster will look like by September. We may have figured out a way to be aggressive and add a few different pieces, but it will be in a way that won’t ruin our future. I think that’s the difference. Nothing we do this year will be at the expense of the future while We know we’re still trying to build the best team you can this year.”
While many across the league may view Ramsey’s trading as the end of the Rams’ championship window, the Los Angeles front office is determined to show ripping up the roster after a win isn’t the only exit strategy after being aggressive for winning the Super Bowl.
“The way out of the condition is everyone says, ‘Okay, Rams, we won the Super Bowl, so it’s worth it,’” Dimov said. “Well, yeah, but I would like us to be able to prove that you can win a Super Bowl.” And to be aggressive and not hit the blows for a while. Bottom correction last year was injury related, maybe menu related, but I’m walking into a healthy season, this is our year to prove that form isn’t flawed.
“I think it’s a wrong choice to say, ‘In order to win the Super Bowl with my hostility, you have to pay your pain later.'”
ESPN Bears reporter Courtney Cronin and Bills reporter Alaina Getzenberg contributed to this story.