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With several key players hitting free agency, the Los Angeles Rams were forced to make some difficult decisions. They couldn’t keep everyone with their limited cap space, so they had to pick and choose which free agents they wanted to re-sign.
Of their 12 unrestricted free agents that hit the market, the Rams re-signed only one: Leonard Floyd. Austin Blythe and Blake Bortles are still available, but the other nine players have already found homes outside of Los Angeles.
Pro Football Focus’ Anthony Treash didn’t have much to choose from for the Rams when it came to picking his least favorite decision by each team, but he criticized L.A. for letting John Johnson and Troy Hill walk in order to re-sign Floyd.
Treash pointed out that Johnson and Hill were among the Rams’ five most valuable non-quarterbacks based on WAR, with Johnson ranking fifth among all defenders in the NFL and Hill leading the league in slot coverage grade. He understands they were limited with cap space, but Treash believes the Rams didn’t need to pay such a high price to keep Floyd.
LOS ANGELES RAMS: RE-SIGNING EDGE DEFENDER LEONARD FLOYD WHILE LETTING S JOHN JOHNSON III AND CB TROY HILL WALK
The Rams were cap-strung this offseason but opened up some space to make a play in free agency. Instead of re-signing one or both of Johnson and Hill, they decided to hand out a four-year contract worth $64 million with $32.5 million guaranteed to edge defender Leonard Floyd, who generated just 0.10 WAR for the team in 2020.
Floyd’s 2020 campaign was inflated by an impressive sack total and a bevy of cleanup and unblocked pressures on a line that features arguably the best player the NFL has ever seen, Aaron Donald. Floyd tied for fifth on the season in total sacks but finished 61st in pass-rush win rate. That will likely remain true so long as Donald continues to dominate, but the Rams didn’t need to give up this kind of money to retain him. Plenty of other cheaper edge rushers on the market could have racked up that production in such situations.
There is an argument to be made that some of Floyd’s production was the result of playing alongside Donald, which was certainly the case for Dante Fowler Jr. before he left to sign with the Falcons. Floyd had a career-best season playing next to Donald, with 10.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss.
The hope is that he can continue that level of play in 2021 and beyond, and there’s no reason to believe he can’t do that as long as Donald remains healthy. At $16 million per year for four years, it’s a high price to pay, but it’s not as if Floyd is among the 10 highest-paid at his position.
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