The Los Angeles Rams successfully lived up to the lofty expectations set upon them as they emerged victorious in Super Bowl 56. Now, the focus of the team will be in the offseason where they will be challenged to form another contending squad for 2022.
As of the moment, the Rams are nearly $22 million over the salary cap for the upcoming offseason, per Over The Cap. General manager Les Snead will surely have his work cut out for him as he attempts to retain the core of their Super Bowl-winning squad moving forward.
If the Rams find a way to successfully navigate through this busy offseason, they will surely be in a good position to defend their title next season. There have been rumors about Sean McVay leaving and Aaron Donald retiring, but it looks like McVay will be back and it's still hard to imagine Donald calling it quits.
With that said, let's take a look at four predictions for the Rams in the 2022 NFL offseason.
Rams Offseason Predictions
4. Matthew Stafford, Jalen Ramsey, Aaron Donald will all have their contracts restructured
One of the key things for the Rams to free up cap space is to tweak the existing deals of their players who are under contract for 2022. The team can either restructure or extend Matthew Stafford's current five-year, $135 million contract, which is set to expire prior to the 2023 season.
Jalen Ramsey is heading to the third season of his five-year, $100 million contract signed back in 2020 and is set to have a $23.2 million cap hit for the upcoming offseason. Meanwhile, Aaron Donald's six-year, $135 million contract will have an approximate $27 million cap hit and is expected to run through the 2024 season. Amid the Donald retirement rumors, there will surely be quite a bit of work done on his deal.
The Rams will surely have to find their way to ease these giant contracts in order for them to make significant moves in the upcoming offseason. It may not be the most appealing thing to happen for these guys, especially after winning a title, but at least they are giving themselves another shot at contending next season.
3. Sony Michel will explore his options in the offseason
Previously acquired via trade from the New England Patriots, RB Sony Michel was quite a revelation for the Rams in the 2021 season. He inherited a larger role after Cam Akers went down with a torn Achilles injury in training camp. The veteran saw more snaps on the field after another rusher in Darnell Henderson suffered an MCL sprain in Week 16.
Not long after, Akers swiftly recovered and made his way back as the team's top rusher in the playoffs. With the sophomore returning to action, Michel eventually got less involved in the team's offense towards the tail end of their postseason run.
He ended the 2021 season with 845 rushing yards on 208 carries and four scoring touchdowns for the Rams in 17 games played. Currently, Michel's future in Los Angeles is not looking promising, as both Akers and Henderson are expected to be in full health next season.
Now set to become an unrestricted free agent, the Georgia product will surely explore his options in a bid to land a larger role elsewhere.
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2. Improving the offensive line will be one of the top priorities
The Rams had one of the best offensive lines in the league with a ranking of seventh overall in 2021, per Pro Football Focus. Despite their solid performance all season long, they are bound to lose their best lineman in tackle Andrew Whitworth, who is already in the twilight zone of his career.
Pro Football Focus also tagged the 16-year veteran as the highest-graded lineman for the Rams with a score of 86.1. Given his superb blocking abilities, the team will surely have a huge hole to fill if Whitworth pushes through with his retirement plans in the offseason.
Some of the names they can target at the left tackle position would be Nate Solder, Cam Robinson, and Terron Armstead, among others. Additionally, the group didn't perform that well in their last few games of the season, which means they can still find ways to improve and have more cohesion in 2022.
1. The Rams will successfully secure Odell Beckham Jr.'s services moving forward.
The gamble to pick up Odell Beckham Jr. on the waiver wire after he was cut by the Cleveland Browns greatly paid off for the Rams. The three-time Pro Bowler became more productive on the field and showed flashes of his old self as a potent scoring threat.
Unfortunately, Beckham didn't get to see much action in Super Bowl 56 due to a torn ACL in the same knee he injured back in 2020. His current situation will surely put a lot of question marks around him as he becomes an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.
However, it might end up being a silver lining for the Rams as fewer teams will be willing to take a gamble to acquire his services. After all, OBJ recently expressed his desires to even take a pay cut just to have another tour of duty with the team, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he will play for them once again in 2022 and beyond.
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