Rams GM Les Snead puts cap on offseason expectations

Les Snead, architect of the Rams’ Super Bowl roster of 2021, sounds more like a general contractor as he gets ready to repair the storm-battered roster of 2022.

As he did right after the Rams finished their 5-12 season in January, the general manager said Thursday he’ll be starting a roster “remodel” instead of a “rebuild” when the NFL free-agent signing period begins next week.

The Rams’ potential to upgrade will be limited by the need to get under the NFL’s salary cap by shedding some veteran salaries, moves expected to include trading cornerback Jalen Ramsey.

At the same time, their willingness to start from scratch will be limited by wanting to keep most of the pillars of the Super Bowl LVI championship, such as the quarterback.

“The reason I said ‘remodel,’ not ‘rebuild,’ is a player like Matthew Stafford,” Snead said in a Zoom press conference with Los Angeles reporters. “To me, in a rebuild, you would just bulldoze the house down and begin rebuilding from the ground up.

“But when you have someone like Matthew Stafford, players like (wide receiver) Cooper Kupp, (defensive lineman) Aaron Donald … there’s some weight-bearing walls that we still have, and we’re going to rely on those – don’t want to put pressure on them – and then, at that point, remodel around them with maybe different teammates, different partners.”

Stafford, Kupp and Donald finished the season on injured reserve, but Snead said all should be recovered in time for training camp.

Teams can begin talking contracts with other teams’ free agents at 9 a.m. PT Monday, and can begin announcing free-agent signings and trades at 1 p.m. Wednesday. They also must get under the NFL’s $224.8 million salary cap by Wednesday. The Rams’ payroll was $16 million over the cap as of Thursday, according to OverTheCap.com.

Without naming specific players, Snead said nothing to discourage speculation that Ramsey, edge rusher Leonard Floyd and wide receiver Allen Robinson are likely to be among the Rams’ salary-cap casualties. Ramsey, a three-time All-Pro, signed a five-year, $100 million contract in September 2020, and trading him by June 1 would save the Rams $5.6 million against the cap, according to Spotrac.com. They already saved $5 million by releasing inside linebacker Bobby Wagner last month.

Among the Rams’ unrestricted free agents are backup quarterback Baker Mayfield, defensive linemen A’Shawn Robinson and Greg Gaines, cornerback Troy Hill, safety Taylor Rapp and kicker Matt Gay.

Ideally, they’d make signings and trades to begin to immediately address needs on the offensive line, at outside and inside linebacker and in the defensive secondary, before using their 10 picks in rounds two through seven of the April 27-29 draft to address the future.

“Unfortunately,” Snead said, “to get under the cap, that usually means deletion with some of your better veteran players who are making higher salaries, and it can also mean there’s an unrestricted free agent – or two or three or four – that you can’t necessarily re-sign (and) get under the cap.”

So the GM is lowering expectations for free-agent season.

“Our DNA is to attack, hit the gas. We’re going to hit the brakes a little bit,” Snead said. “That does not change how we’re going to approach the season, how we’re going to approach the day to day. But it will definitely change how we approach constructing the roster.”