Los Angeles Rams: One player who could be a surprise roster cut

The Los Angeles Rams enter the NFL‘s 2022 offseason as Super Bowl champions but with little room to improve the roster. Currently sitting at 27th in the NFL in available salary-cap space (-$10 million), the team also has the impending retirement of Andrew Whitworth and possible contract extensions for Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, Aaron Donald, Sean McVay, and Les Snead to worry about. That means that despite the small number of available funds, there will still be plenty of cash flying around LA this spring. To do that, tough decisions will have to be made. Not all of the players from the Super Bowl winning team will be able to be brought back, and some will even be cut before they ever get their rings. However, there are only a handful of players that the Rams could release that would free up cap space in 2022. Most of the others would create “dead cap” upon their release and that in itself eliminates them from cut consideration. The Rams also have a few players that could be tempting to other clubs via a trade. We took a deep dive into LA's salary cap numbers and came away with one player that we think could be a surprising, yet likely, “cap casualty.”

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One Rams surprise roster cut in the 2022 offseason

Tyler Higbee

Aside from the aforementioned contract restructures and extensions, a trade/release of Tyler Higbee is one of the only other available means for the Rams to gain salary-cap space. Surely the team would like to trade Higbee and get something in return, but teams know that the Rams have Jacob Harris, Kendall Blanton, and Brycen Hopkins all waiting in the wings at the tight end position. The Rams could also address the position in what is seen as a very deep 2022 NFL draft class for tight ends. One thing that is keeping Higbee around is that the Rams' running game was much worse when he wasn't on the field. That can be addressed by adding a blocking tight end to replace Johnny Mundt, however, and doesn't necessarily preclude Hignee from wearing a different uniform in 2022. It also doesn't stop the Rams from releasing him and then bringing him back at a lower salary. So, with that, it is still up in the air as to whether the “Hig-Beast” will be wearing blue and yellow in 2022, even if his release seems inevitable.

The 29-year-old former Western Kentucky Hilltopper might be able to secure himself more than $5 million on the open market, however, and that would put the Rams out of the running. With big contracts out to Kupp and Robert Woods, a contract expected to be handed out to Odell Beckham Jr., and the emergence of the Rams' young tight ends, it seems likely that Higbee's days in Los Angeles are numbered and other teams will use that as leverage. If Higbee is indeed cut loose, expect teams that are competing for a playoff berth in 2022 but are lacking playmaking at the tight end position to come calling. The Los Angeles Chargers and the Indianapolis Colts immediately stick out as potential suitors for Higbee. The question now is, do any teams offer the Rams a pick for Higbee's services, or do they wait it out until the team inevitably releases him? Obviously, waiting it out saves your team the draft pick, but it also leaves it open for other teams to swoop in and offer Higbee more money if he were to hit the open market. Stay tuned.