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Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Rams

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Relative to many of the contenders in the NFL, the Rams went through a fairly quiet offseason. Departing coaches and veterans, returning and incoming veterans, the Rams return a similar offense in 2024 — one accompanied by a few new faces on defense and among the coaching staff. The goal of another Super Bowl remains, though, as Los Angeles attempts to challenge San Francisco for the division and, ultimately, the conference.

Free agency additions:

While much of the offense will look the same as it did in 2023, free agency provided almost a completely different group of starters in the secondary on defense. Williams is a familiar face back in Los Angeles, returning to the Rams after two years away. The veteran cornerback first found his way to L.A. after his initial signing with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2018. A midseason cut led to Williams being claimed by the Rams, with whom he would become a full-time starter over four years.

Williams left for Jacksonville under a three-year, $30MM deal but was released a year early, allowing him to return on his new three-year contract. The 31-year-old CB’s deal, however, becomes a pay-as-you-go pact after the first year. That gives the Rams some protection in case Williams cannot recapture his form from his first L.A. stint.

Williams is joined in a new-look secondary by Curl and White. A former seventh-round pick with Washington, Curl became a full-time starter shortly into his rookie season. Curl hasn’t intercepted any passes since his three-pick year in 2020, but his 53 starts in 60 games in Washington should make him perfectly capable of joining John Johnson as a starter in the defensive backfield. With a torn ACL sidelining starter Derion Kendrick for the season, White (34 missed games since his Thanksgiving 2021 ACL tear) will be tapped as the next man up, starting across from Williams.

One new offensive starter did arrive as a free agent. After spending his entire rookie contract as a starting left guard in Detroit, Jackson will return to a role that he last played in his redshirt sophomore season at Rutgers. Jackson played guard in his final season with the Scarlet Knights and his transfer year at Ohio State, but Los Angeles will ask him to find his way back to the center of the offensive line. This recent switch will kick 2023 second-rounder Steve Avila, a guard as a rookie but a center throughout Los Angeles’ offseason program, back to guard.

Garoppolo joins as a potential upgrade to Stetson Bennett as a backup quarterback. It’s been a bit of a fall from grace for Garoppolo over the past few years after losing his starting jobs in San Francisco and Las Vegas, but perhaps coming into a situation in which he knows he’s a backup will prove useful for the veteran passer. This continues a trend of Sean McVay bringing in a downward-trending starter and installing him as Matthew Stafford‘s backup.

Re-signings:

The Rams acquired Dotson in a trade last year from Pittsburgh and reaped the rewards for it. For some mid- to late-round draft swaps, Los Angeles acquired a middling guard heading into the final year of his rookie deal and saw him put forth his best season of NFL football so far. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Dotson ranked as the second-best guard in the NFL last season. Previously, the advanced metrics site had not ranked Dotson any higher than 28th. The Rams joined the Panthers in shelling out big cash for two guards on this year’s guard-rich market.

In the receiving corps, Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua will receive all the attention, but Robinson returns as a quality contributor off the bench. After quickly shipping Van Jefferson to Atlanta last season, the Rams depended on Tutu Atwell and Robinson to step up behind their star receivers as contributors. Robinson finished fourth in the receivers room in yards last year and will push Atwell for targets after behind Kupp and Nacua again in 2024.

On defense, as we mentioned above, Johnson returns to keep the secondary from looking completely strange from last year’s group. Rozeboom and Reeder were both re-signed after starting five and six games last year, respectively. This duo was originally set to provide supporting work on the Rams’ defensive second level, but the departure of Ernest Jones (see the Trades section below) will require the two to take on bigger responsibilities in 2024.

Notable losses:

The biggest loss here is an obvious one, as the Rams watch a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, 10-time Pro Bowler, and eight-time first-team All-Pro hang up his cleats. Donald is irreplaceable. Period. The Rams will certainly have a difficult time picking up the pieces after of the greatest defenders in NFL history retired with one year left on his contract.

Donald, who threatened to retire in 2022 in an effort to strengthen his leverage for a redone contract (and succeeding), remained near the top of his game last season (eight sacks, 16 tackles for loss, 23 QB hits) and earned the last of his first-team All-Pro nods. Assessing the Rams’ defense becomes tougher due to the impact Donald made.

Dante Fowler, Leonard Floyd and Von Miller collected big paydays shortly after thriving alongside the Rams’ unmatched inside pass rusher, with Donald’s presence undoubtedly lessening the burden on the team’s secondary as well. He drove the defensive effort in the Rams’ Super Bowl LVI win, doing so three years after his second DPOY season powered McVay’s team to Super Bowl LIII.

Donald’s retirement — at 33 — will tag the Rams with substantial dead money. He will count $23.8MM against Los Angeles’ 2024 cap and $9.7MM on the team’s 2025 payroll. The Rams made the playoffs with more than $70MM in dead money on last year’s cap; the loss of Donald on the field will matter far more compared to the cap ramifications of his retirement.

How the Rams’ defense functions after Donald’s 10-year career wraps will be a central NFC storyline. Regardless, the Rams will attempt to use some combination of Kobie Turner, Bobby Brown, and second-round rookie Braden Fiske to try and make up for Donald’s lost production.

The cause for the abovementioned new-look secondary can be seen here. Fuller was a four-year starter (missing most of one year with injury) as a sixth-round pick for the Rams. In those three healthy years, Fuller yielded seven interceptions and a 100-tackle season. He leveraged those performances into a one-year deal with the Panthers, reuniting with ex-Rams safeties coach Ejiro Evero. Witherspoon played in every game of the season last year for the first time in his career, reeling in three interceptions in the process. The 29-year-old remains a free agent.

On offense, the loss of names like Wentz and Freeman seems bigger than they may be. Far removed from being a 2017 MVP candidate and three years after his last full season as a starting passer, Wentz’s impact in Los Angeles was minimal. Still, the drop in quality from Wentz to Garoppolo or Bennett at QB2 may be significant. Freeman’s name may not seem like a big loss, but his 319 rushing yards in 2023 were the most behind Kyren Williams by a decent margin. The team drafted Michigan’s Blake Corum in the third round this year in hopes that he’ll provide an improvement at RB2.

Of the losses on the offensive line, Shelton’s is the biggest. Shelton took the reins from Allen at center last year, starting every Rams game. Seeing his playing time dissolve, Allen ended up a cap casualty. Shelton has since found his way into a Week 1 starting role in Chicago on a one-year contract.

Extensions and restructures:

One of this offseason’s biggest moves saw the Rams reward Stafford for a healthy and productive season in 2023. The cannon-armed QB’s 2022 injuries played the lead role in the Rams submitting the worst Super Bowl title defense ever, and rumblings about a trade surfaced early during the 2023 offseason. Though, Stafford’s contract and health at the time never made a move realistic.

After a bounce-back 2023, Stafford — upon seeing nearly all the guarantees from his contract exhausted — expressed desires for more locked-in money in his future. Los Angeles took care of its own, moving $5MM of future funds so that Stafford would receive $36MM in 2024. The team also added a guaranteed $4MM roster bonus for the 2025 season to Stafford’s contract.

The modified deal does not extend Stafford’s obligation past its original end following the 2026 season, but the Rams made their quarterback happy in hopes he can do the same for them. While the team has expressed optimism Stafford can play beyond 2024, the team still views this — the summer reworking aside — as a year-to-year partnership.

Noteboom’s path as the heir apparent to Andrew Whitworth did not quite pan out as Los Angeles had hoped. While Noteboom is not the full-time starter they expected, he still holds a consistent role as a swingman; the former third-round pick started 14 games over the last two years at guard and tackle. An agreement to restructure with a pay cut allowed Noteboom to continue in that role moving forward. His decreased income was supplemented in the short term with nearly $7MM in guarantees. As a result, Noteboom’s cap hit decreased from $20MM to $11.6MM.

Draft:

The 2023 Rams finished in the bottom half of the league (20th) in pass defense last year, with part of that ranking being due to the team finishing 23rd in sacks. After losing Donald, who accounted for eight of their 41 sacks, Los Angeles made addressing the defensive line and pass rush a top priority in the draft.

After a 9.5-sack performance at Division I-FCS Albany, Verse spent the past two years with the Seminoles and racked up nine sacks in each of those two years. The coveted edge rusher showed further disruptive abilities with 29.5 tackles for loss over that same period. Widely considered to be in the running as one of the draft’s top pass rushers alongside Alabama’s Dallas Turner and UCLA’s Laiatu Latu, Verse found himself as the third edge defender off the board, following those two.

The Rams then decided to trade up in the second round for Verse’s college teammate, Fiske, who had six sacks himself in one year at Florida State. That showing followed a six-sack performance in his fifth year at Western Michigan, as well.

Adding Davis out of Clemson, who finished with 5.5 sacks in two of his five years with the Tigers, Los Angeles is host to a slew of young defenders who could contribute to the pass-rushing rotation early. Adding in Kinchens, whose 11 interceptions for the Hurricanes in the last two years led the FBS over that time, and the Rams may have added impact rookies all over the field on defense. The team has shown a knack for mid- and late-round defensive finds under GM Les Snead; post-Donald, the team will need to hit on young defensive help once again.

Los Angeles also drafted its new kicker with the in-state leg Karty coming over from Stanford. Karty leaves the Cardinal with a school-record 85% field goal conversion rate. His 23 makes in 2023 were the most in a season in Stanford history, and in 2022 he went 18-for-18 including a 61-yard game-winner. The Rams will hope that he can return them to consistency at the position after they transitioned from Matt Gay last year.

On offense, the team added a potential upgrade at RB2 with Corum and took a few fliers on some pass catchers and blockers. The Rams’ approach to the offensive side of the ball could have looked a lot different had a few rumors come to fruition. With Stafford nearing his late 30s, there were certainly thoughts that Los Angeles could make a move for a passer in the draft this year with some reports that they were even looking to climb into the top 10.

While a move up that high would have certainly indicated crosshairs on a quarterback, speculation swirled that they might have also had their eyes on Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, who went a few selections ahead of them at 13. One report alleged that the Rams attempted to contact the Jets and Vikings — who ended up swapping spots at Nos. 10 and 11 — about a trade-up maneuver that could have been targeting the top-tier tight end. Later reports also noted an attempted move up to No. 16, where it is believed the team was targeting Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy II.

Trades:

The Jones trade represents the latest example of Los Angeles being unwilling to spend money at the linebacker position. Jones is entering a contract year after a huge performance in 2023. Utilizing his newfound leverage after a career year, Jones angled for an extension. Unwilling to meet his request, the Rams permitted Jones to seek a trade with other teams, a request the fourth-year ILB had not made. Los Angeles reached out to communicate with potential trade partners regardless, ultimately striking a deal that would send Jones to the Titans for what is essentially a 2025 late-round pick swap.

Without Jones, the Rams have quite a big hole to fill in the middle of their defense. Jones’ 988 defensive snaps last season led the linebackers room by a healthy margin. Rozeboom was second in the room with just 579.

An undrafted free agent in 2020 out of South Dakota State, Rozeboom’s action last year was the most he’s seen in his four-year career. The Rams must like what they see in Rozeboom and Reeder to re-sign them, but they will be asking a lot to replace Jones’ top-end production. PFF ranked the former third-rounder as the NFL’s 13th-best off-ball linebacker last year.

The Titans will be receiving Jones on a one-year rental, unless they decide to extend him themselves, but it’s a small price to pay for one of the best linebackers in football last season.

The Rams took a flier on Skowronek out of Notre Dame (after four years at Northwestern) in the 2021 seventh round. After failing to see much production in his rookie season, the team experimented a bit with the young receiver, playing him a bit at fullback, as well. After essentially being reduced to a special-teamer in 2023, Skowronek was on the verge of being waived before the final year of his rookie deal.

Instead, the Texans agreed to a late-round pick swap in 2026 in exchange for cutting the line in the waiver wire and simply took on Skowronek themselves. Ultimately, Skowronek failed to make the 53-man roster in a crowded wide receivers room and, eventually, signed to the Steelers’ practice squad.

Other:

One of the biggest areas of change for the Rams in 2024 came on the coaching staff, as the McVay tree expanded once again. The Rams’ DC of the past three years, Morris departed to become the new skipper in Atlanta and took with him the team’s quarterbacks coach and a defensive assistant. Robinson will receive his first offensive coordinator opportunity along with a chance to call plays, something he could not do under McVay. Lake, who had also worked under Morris with the Buccaneers during the latter’s HC stint in Florida, will also have the chance to call plays in the NFL for the first time.

The grandson of all-time coaching wins kingpin Don Shula, Chris has been with the Rams as an assistant coach on defense since 2017. In a bit of a trading spaces scenario, the Rams hired Ragone — the Falcons’ OC from 2021-23 — to replace Robinson as quarterbacks coach. The team also added Desai, a former defensive coordinator for the Bears and, more recently, the Eagles. Desai is looking to rebound after being demoted from his Eagles DC post in-season. Smith, who served as the interim head coach for the Chargers between Brandon Staley and Jim Harbaugh, replaced Henderson as defensive line coach.

The Rams will open the year without multiple starters. In addition to Kendrick’s ACL tear, Higbee continues his rehabilitation from the same injury. After earning a larger starter role in each of his first two years, Kendrick was primed for another year of progress. Unfortunately, that next step will need to wait until 2025. The other starter, Jackson, will miss the team’s first two contests with a suspension due to a violation of the league’s personal conduct policy. After serving as the team’s full-time LT starter last year, Jackson entered the offseason a restricted free agent. The Rams kept him around with a priority RFA tender.

Despite a 10-man draft class, the Rams emphasized an infusion of youth by signing 16 undrafted free agents. Whether an impressive feat or a concerning omen, five of those 16 players ended up making the initial 53-man roster. Two players, Elias Neal and Omar Speights, underlined how thin the linebacking corps is going to be without Jones. The other three, Jaylen McCollough, Josh Wallace, and Charles Woods, all fill out a secondary that will miss Kendrick.

Top 10 cap chargers for 2024:

  1. Matthew Stafford, QB: $41.17MM
  2. Cooper Kupp, WR: $29.78MM
  3. Rob Havenstein, RT: $14.7MM
  4. Jonah Jackson, G: $13.67MM
  5. Kevin Dotson, G: $12.67MM
  6. Tyler Higbee, TE: $12.61MM
  7. Joseph Noteboom, OL: $11.62MM
  8. Alaric Jackson, LT: $4.89MM
  9. Darious Williams, CB: $4.67MM
  10. Kamren Curl, S: $4.24MM

While the Rams look much the same when assessing some areas, others look quite unfamiliar — for better or worse. The front office has been diligent in keeping some old acquaintances happy and attracting new talent. A lot of the offense seems good enough to take Los Angeles to another Super Bowl, while a new-look defense and coaching staff will have something to prove in 2024. McVay piloted last year’s retooled team to a close wild-card loss, after a cost-cutting offseason did not generate much hype. As a result, the Rams are squarely back on the contender radar.