Rams 'definitely planning to be active' in free agency

Rams 'definitely planning to be active' in free agency

By Alden Gonzalez

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Los Angeles Rams are "definitely planning to be active" in free agency this offseason, their sixth-year general manager, Les Snead, said from the scouting combine on Thursday.

To what extent remains to be seen.

"You have to wait to see how the process goes and see who goes off the board, what they get paid, and do they factor into your big picture," Snead said. "But I definitely think we need to use free agency to supplement our roster."

The Rams built primarily through the draft in Snead's previous five years as GM, which came with Jeff Fisher as the head coach. They consistently rolled out the NFL's youngest roster throughout that time, allocating minimal dollars to veteran players from the outside. The Rams spent just over $131 million on free agents over the last three years, ranked 23rd in the NFL, and a lot of that was a product of extending their own.

But now they're entering a draft with only one pick within the first 68 selections and have a desire to inject their roster with veteran players. They were scheduled to have just shy of $40 million in salary cap space, but unless an extension is reached by the middle of July, nearly half of that will be spent on a second franchise tag for cornerback Trumaine Johnson. Johnson, linebacker Mark Barron, receiver Tavon Austin and defensive tackle Michael Brockers are set to cost nearly $54 million towards the salary cap in 2017, making up about 32 percent of it all.

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