Here is my reasoning.
Quite a few ‘holes’ will appear as Ram FA’s depart:
Edge (maybe even two)
DE
ILB
S (depth)
RB (anybody comfortable with the Gurley/Henderson, Brown corps?)
C
LOT (assuming Whit is not extended)
Place kicker
Meanwhile, we have very limited draft picks with which to replace and the highest is #52.
Our available cap is minimal barring a restructure of Goff which merely kicks the can down the road, something that Demoff dislikes a great deal.
So, what to do? Well, I see a combo of excruciating decisions to let vets leave and trying to sign 2nd tier FA’s to fill in for many of the departed. That and a somewhat needs based draft. That’s a lot of ‘make do’, huh?
Sigh...
Not an ideal offseason scenario, is it? But a salary cap corner that the Rams have painted themselves into, I’m afraid.
As an aside, some have suggested Gurley, Cooks, and/or Hav be traded for cap relief help. I see these as completely unrealistic for this offseason, so no help there.
The silver lining here is that Snead/McVay have proven adept at acquiring mid to late round, UDFA, FA, and trades for quality players in the past. They really need to do all that once again this offseason because the NFC West is only gonna be stronger this season.
Huge challenge ahead for the Ram brain trust as we all look forward to opening day in the new stadium.