No team in the NFL came into the first week of free agency with less cap room than the Los Angeles Rams. In fact, the Rams didn’t have any space at all. They began the week $33 million over the salary cap, needing to restructure five contracts just to get under the cap by Wednesday’s deadline.
It comes as no surprise that the Rams have been relatively inactive on the free-agent market. With limited cap space, they’ve had to pick and choose their targets carefully. So far they’ve re-signed Leonard Floyd and Johnny Mundt, while also applying a first-round tender to Darious Williams.
Other than that, they haven’t signed a single other player. The Rams and Packers are the only two teams in the NFL not to sign any outside free agents, as both teams have sat on the sidelines all week.
Like the Rams, the Packers made one major move by re-signing Aaron Jones to a four-year deal worth $48 million. That made for a quiet rest of the week in Green Bay, similar to the impact Floyd’s deal had on the Rams’ plans.
No one in L.A. should be surprised by the team’s inactivity. Even now, the Rams have about $7 million in cap space, which isn’t nearly enough to make a big splash in free agency. They can restructure Matthew Stafford’s contract or extend his deal to lower his 2021 cap hit of $20 million, but that’ll only happen if the Rams feel it’s completely necessary.
In other words, don’t expect much movement from Les Snead and Co. the rest of the way. They could try to re-sign Austin Blythe or add an inexpensive center, but a headline-making move is unlikely to happen.