The job in front of the Rams last offseason, impossible as it was to imagine, was to replace future Hall of Fame defensive lineman Aaron Donald, whose mere presence demanded the attention of every coach on the opposing sideline and at least two offensive linemen on the field.
One season later, there are no questions about the Rams’ defensive front left to answer.
Outside linebacker Jared Verse was named the PFWA’s Defensive Rookie of the Year after a six-sack, 77-pressure season that somehow did more talking than the outside linebacker did on his own. Yet it was second-round pick Braden Fiske who led the team with 8.5 sacks. Defensive tackle Kobie Turner was among the NFL’s best at pressures against double teams, doing his mentor Donald proud. And edge rusher Byron Young followed up his eight-sack rookie year with 7.5 more.
“I thought we became a more aggressive outfit. We had some more versatility. We weren’t playing some of the similar front and run structures that maybe you guys had seen us do in previous years,” head coach Sean McVay said last week. “If you said at the beginning of the year this is what I thought we’d end up being, I don’t think you know. I think you have to be totally and completely present. I thought the flexibility and the ability to utilize all of our players was on display.”
Most of the NFL’s best defenses are built around a pass-rushing unit, and the Rams have completely remade theirs in two years with four draft picks. By doing so, general manager Les Snead and his front office can focus their efforts this offseason on stocking up the rest of the group, knowing that that priority has been taken care of.
But, with an eye toward the future, too, when the Rams will have to pay all these young pass rushers.
“You start modeling the future, kind of what it looks like. That always comes into play,” Snead said last week. “I would say probably 80% … you’ll really be thinking about 2025 with always the caveat of if you do this, this is kind of how it affects ‘26 and ‘27. I think the neat thing for us is going through what we did when we recalibrated to get back to a more healthy, let’s call it cap to cash type of ecosystem, in terms of cap, it does allow for flexibility and freedom moving forward.”
Starters under contract for 2025
CB Darious Williams, CB Cobie Durant, S Quentin Lake, S Kamren Curl, S Kam Kinchens, S LB Omar Speights, OLB Jared Verse, OLB Byron Young, DL Kobie Turner, DL Braden Fiske, K Joshua Karty, P Ethan Evans, LS Alex Ward
The Rams had 15 players who by the season were interchangeably in the starting defense depending on what the personnel matchups dictated that week. Eleven of those are under contract for next year, nine of them still on rookie contracts.
Williams has the highest cap number of anyone on the defense at $9.2 million in 2025, the second of three years on the contract he signed last offseason. The Rams do have an out in the contract if they choose to exercise it this offseason that would leave a $2.3 million dead cap number.
Lake and Durant are eligible for rookie contract extensions this offseason. The Rams haven’t extended a rookie contract of a defensive player since Aaron Donald, and have future contracts for other possible rookie extensions (Turner and Young next offseason, Verse and Fiske the following) to take into consideration.
The Rams also have contributors such as S Jaylen McCollough, DL Desjuan Johnson, DL Tyler Davis, CB Emmanuel Forbes, CB Josh Wallace and OLB Brennan Jackson under contract for 2025.
Upcoming free agents
OLB Michael Hoecht, LB Christian Rozeboom, LB Troy Reeder, S John Johnson III, CB Ahkello Witherspoon, DL Bobby Brown IV, DL Neville Gallimore, DL Larrell Murchison, LB Jake Hummel (restricted)
Hoecht is the most interesting conversation the Rams will need to have among this group. Beyond the leadership stuff – Hoecht and his girlfriend handed out Los Angeles Fire Department apparel to teammates before the Rams’ flight to Phoenix for their relocated playoff game, and he is the team’s union rep – Hoecht is a unique fit in the Rams’ scheme. His versatility being able to line up at inside linebacker allowed coordinator Chris Shula to install a unique twist on a Cheetah front that played a big role in the defense’s reimaging after the Week 6 bye.
Witherspoon will bear monitoring again after he took over the Rams’ primary corner job down the stretch of the season, but he didn’t have a market last offseason from other teams or the Rams themselves.
Brown and Gallimore were integral parts of the Rams’ run defense this year. But the addition of Tyler Davis in last year’s draft could be part of the team’s plan to replace their production.
Cap concerns
2025 projected salary cap: $275 million
Rams 2025 cap commitments: $241.3 million (per Over the Cap)
Rams 2025 cap commitments on defense: $54 million (per Over the Cap)
Toughest decisions
As outlined above, Hoecht is the most complicated decision for the Rams to make along the defense. You can allow him to walk and get paid somewhere else. But his intersection of talents – able to line up as a defensive lineman, edge rusher or inside linebacker – is difficult to replace in a vacuum. The Rams will have to have a walk-away number when it comes to Hoecht’s free agency.
Beyond that, the biggest questions will come down to what the Rams’ strategy is in free agency this year. Do they try to sign a high-impact, veteran cornerback or linebacker to a one-year deal? Or look for bargains like they found with last year’s two-year, $9 million deal for Curl?
And with premium positions like defensive line and edge rush accounted for already, the Rams could look to restock the shelves at defensive back in the draft. They don’t have a second-rounder after sending that to move up for Fiske last April, but taking a cornerback with their third-round pick would make sense.