Rams could add FA depth with starters expected to rest during preseason games…

Rams could add free-agent depth with starters expected to rest during preseason

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

Cameron DaSilva

Sean McVay isn’t the first coach to rest his starters during the preseason, but he’s taken that approach to a new level with the Rams by keeping his top players on the sideline and not playing them at all. It’s a guarded approach by the innovative young coach, an attempt to avoid injuries to players who will contribute in a big way.

McVay didn’t have any decisions to make last year as the preseason was canceled, but he expects to take a similar approach this year for the team’s three exhibition games.

“The interesting thing is you’ve got to think about, all right, we’re going to get some competitive opportunities to practice against the Raiders, against the Cowboys, but I still do plan on taking a similar approach where not many of our guys are going to play in the preseason,” he said this week.

The answer stemmed from a question asked of McVay about whether the team could look into adding any help via free agency. He acknowledged that there could be a couple of spots that get some attention, both as a way to add depth and also help the Rams get through the preseason without having to play their top guys.

“I think there’s a couple positions that we would talk about. … Les and I were actually talking about that today and I talked about that with our coaches yesterday, so we’ll continue to evaluate that,” he said. “But that could be something that we would potentially look into if we felt like we wanted to add depth to have a more competitive roster, but also to help us get through those three preseason games.”

The Rams have good depth across the roster, but it wouldn’t hurt to bring in some additional cornerbacks, linebackers or defensive linemen. They will have to trim their 90-man roster to 85 after their first preseason game, then to 80 after their second preseason matchup, and finally to 53 on Aug. 31, three days after their preseason finale.

So they’ll have to pick and choose who to keep around for Weeks 2 and 3 of the preseason.