I don't think its that bad

Quote
Rams43
Here is my reasoning.

Quite a few ‘holes’ will appear as Ram FA’s depart:

Edge (maybe even two) Not really. Matthews is on one side and Ebukam is on the other, and that isn't terrible. Sure Fowler with his 11.5 sacks is tough to replace, but its not impossible. You also have good depth with Obo and Polite. Both are big question marks, but it is sink or swim time for both of them. Not happy with that, then use a 2nd round pick on a kid like Weaver or Greenard. Don't want to use your top pick on an edge rusher? Take a flyer on a guy like Vic Beasley who did have like 8 sacks last year.

DE This one is curious to me because I think they need a DE and a NT, now the NT thing could very well shake out in FA, but I have no idea where they go for a 34 DE. Derek Wolfe is the name I keep coming back to from Denver. I have no idea if he would be cost prohibitive or not, but they have to get AD help. Leonard Williams, a USC grad, might want to come home. If you want help from the draft, a kid like Marlon Davidson in the 2nd would be a sweet fit. Maybe a guy like James Lynch on day 3 could get involved in a DE rotation.

ILB If Littleton goes, there is a hole there, but honestly, he wasn't exactly a monster against the run, so I'm not nearly as concerned about the ILB spot as I am the DL. Plus, you have Kiser coming back from injury. The team seems high on Howard and they traded for Kenny Young, so the ILBer cupboard isn't exactly bare. Plus there are going to be some options in FA. Patrick Onwauser from Baltimore is estimated to cost around 4.8m per year and would fit, Maybe Hightower could buy you a year or 2 if he gets cut. Nick Kwiatkowski from Chi could be a cheap option. As far as the draft, Some day 2 guys that would work are Jordyn Brooks or Malik Harrison. Day 3 kids could include Mykal Walker, Joe Bachie Jr., Justin Strnad is a guy I like on day 3 that I think could work very well as a WILL inside in a 34. Under rated IMO.

S (depth) Maybe, but I think Christian comes back and you have Nick Scott back there, so depth is easy to find and is cheap. Lets just say I'm not losing sleep over the Rams S depth. HaHa Clinton-Dix should be a cheap kid from Chicago so the new DC should know him. Or draft a kid like Antoine Brooks Jr. on day 3. problem solved.

RB (anybody comfortable with the Gurley/Henderson, Brown corps?) Well, the first thing I'm doing is cutting Brown and saving the money, after that I am drafting Jonathan Taylor or JK Dobbins in the 2nd round if either fall to me or maybe Lamical Perine on day 3. Now obviously that is if the Rams truly think Gurley is done, and they have zero belief that Henderson's light will come on. I think Henderson's light will come on and that will help, but a stud RB like Dobbins or Taylor would go a long ways to getting the run game going again.

C The Rams have several options, 2 of which are resigning Blythe and keeping him at OC or putting Brian Allen back in there and hope he improves. I do not like any of those options. You might get lucky in the draft and a Ruiz or Cushenberry are available in the 2nd. I think Biadasz is probably settling into the 3rd round due to his off year he had, but I think his surgery really affected him more then he would admit and he was the best OC in all of college before the surgery, so buy low on him for sure.

LOT (assuming Whit is not extended)I'd assume he is extended. Even if he isn't, I think Evans could slide in there and leave Havs on the right. Or Noteboom, who should be a LT, is your LT and let Evans and Havs fight it out for the RT spot. Draft wise, I think the top start immediately guys are gone. Guys like Bartch, Peart and Trey Adams are day 2 to early day 3 kids that you could groom. If Adams slides due to his injury history, I'd take a chance on him, because he has top of the 1st round talent.

Place kicker I have never been concerned with a kicker in my life, so I'm not starting now.

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. His deal was designed to be restructured this year, so its gonna happen. Unless they have cold feet on Goff, and don't want to add more guaranteed money to his deal, making him harder to cut down the road. But I doubt that is the case.

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? I don't think its that daunting. Lets recap:
LT - resign Whit for 1 more spin.
LG - Noteboom or Corbett or draft a guy like Bredeson on day 3.
OC- Its either in house or day 2 of the draft. And I'd bet they already know what they want to do there.
RB- again, they know Gurley, they also have a real good feel for how Henderson is coming along, so they already know if they are drafting one or not.
S- draft 1 late or sign a cheap FA for depth. Not hard.
DL - There are going to be some decent FAs out there, so I would go hard after a NT in FA. Marcel Dareus only played 6 games last year and has a team option for 22.5m. The Jags are not picking that option up. I'd kick the tires on him for sure. Same with Dontari Poe, club option I don't see getting picked up. Danny Shelton would be a nice signing as well. DE outside of a few FAs, might be more of a draftable position.
ILB - They already know if they are going to resign Littleton or not, they know what they have on the roster, and they can also find a good ILBer in any round of the draft.
Edge - So they either like Ebukam as a starter or they don't. I doubt they are counting on Obo or Polite to be anything more then some passing down edge rushing depth. So, IMO go get a good one in draft and hope you get 5 to 6 sacks out of him. or sign a guy like Beasley and hope you get 8 sacks out of him.

Its still early, but here is what I think will happen. Whit resigns, that frees Noteboom to battle Corbett for LG. The Rams will sign a NT in FA, esp if a guy is cut. They love those guys that get cut. They resign Christian and that finalizes the secondary (along with extending Ramsey) and that leaves a hole at ILB, 1 edge rusher to either start or rotate with Ebukam and a DE. As far as OC, the Rams will either resign Blythe, which means they don't draft a OC or they let him go via FA and then I think drafting a OC becomes priority 1 or 2. I think the Rams ignore the RB spot this year, giving Gurley one more year, and henderson a chance to show he is either the solution, part of the solution or a wasted draft pick as well. I don't think WR is touched either this year. They go 4 deep nicely and Cooks is going nowhere. So you have OC, Edge, DE and ILB as your first 4 picks and although not ideal, 2nd 3rd and 4th round picks can make impacts if you get them right. Rounds 6 and 7 should be a WR that falls or a CB/S and maybe another DL.

Sigh...

Not an ideal offseason scenario, is it? But a salary cap corner that the Rams have painted themselves into, I’m afraid. But this is what they wanted to do. If they didn't they wouldn't have traded for some of these guys and then start handing out big contracts. So I would assume they have a plan that extended beyond 2019.

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. agreed 100%.

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.