For as much was made about the Los Angeles Rams’ class of free agents this offseason, next year’s group is even more critical to the future of the franchise. Cooper Kupp, John Johnson, Jalen Ramsey, Gerald Everett, Troy Hill and Samson Ebukam will all become free agents next year if they don’t sign extensions ahead of time, and all of them are expected to contribute in significant ways in 2020.
The Rams know they can’t keep everyone, so they’ll have to pick and choose which players they re-sign and keep around for the long haul. On that list, Ramsey, Kupp and Johnson would seem to be the top priorities, and that’s the feeling shared by COO Kevin Demoff, too.
On ESPN 710 LA recently, Demoff picked out those three players as the ones Los Angeles wants to ensure it can keep around. The team is saving room to re-sign them, be it this offseason or next year.
“[We’re] making sure long-term that the Cooper Kupps, the John Johnsons, the Jalen Ramseys are all part of our future and that we leave room available for that as the salary cap emerges,” Demoff said. “A lot of moving parts, and we all know one of the crazy things about the NFL offseason is you finish the first week of free agency and everybody says, ‘Well, what’s the starting lineup look like?’ without the draft, without trades, without everything that’s going to happen for the next six months.”
There’s talk among fans and analysts that the Rams’ Super Bowl window has closed, but they still have a strong core of players to lean on for years to come. Aaron Donald isn’t going anywhere, nor is Jared Goff, Robert Woods or Tyler Higbee.
Demoff is confident that Sean McVay and Les Snead can construct a roster that will contend for the foreseeable future, most importantly in 2020.
“With Sean and Les, we’ve been among the league leaders in wins and points, Super Bowl trip, two division titles, and we’ve got great confidence in them to find the right combination of players and to make sure when we open SoFi Stadium, we do it with a team that’s absolutely going to compete for a division title, a conference title and a world championship,” he said.
The contracts the Rams have handed out this season have either been one-year deals or function as such. The Rams can easily get out of A’Shawn Robinson’s two-year pact after one season, given considering only $9.5 million is guaranteed. Austin Blythe and Leonard Floyd both signed one-year deals, too, while Whitworth’s deal will likely allow the Rams to move on after 2020 if they choose. This frees up money next offseason, allowing them to re-sign those key players Demoff mentioned.
It’s just a matter of finding a common ground with those players to make a deal work.