For as many important free agents as the Rams had this offseason, there will be just as many guys hitting the market next year, too. Among them are John Johnson, Gerald Everett, Leonard Floyd, Troy Hill and Austin Blythe.
With limited cap space and a potentially shrinking salary cap, the Rams will have some trouble retaining all their top free agents. Pro Football Focus ranked the 50 best free agents of the 2021 offseason and three Rams made the list – though Floyd and Blythe weren’t among them.
With each player, PFF predicted where he could land and for how much. Shockingly, the site believes the Rams could retain two of the following three: Johnson, Everett and Hill.
Here are PFF’s predicted contracts for all three, along with their landing spots.
No. 27: John Johnson III
Prediction: Rams sign Johnson for four years, $50M ($12.5M APY): $24M total guaranteed, $15.5M fully guaranteed at signing.
No. 43: Troy Hill
Prediction: Rams sign Hill for two years, $10.5 million ($5.25M APY): $7.25 million total guaranteed, $5.25 million fully guaranteed at signing.
No. 46: Gerald Everett
Prediction: Bengals sign Everett for three years, $15 million ($5M APY).
In all honesty, the Rams can get by without signing any of these three players, and they may opt to go that route. Not to diminish the impact they have on the team, but the Rams already have potential replacements lined up to take over in their place.
At safety, Jordan Fuller, Taylor Rapp and Terrell Burgess are all under contract through at least 2022. At tight end, Tyler Higbee is signed long-term and Brycen Hopkins was drafted in the fourth round. At cornerback, Darious Williams should be back as a restricted free agent opposite Jalen Ramsey, and David Long Jr. should be asked to step up at some point as a former third-rounder.
Johnson is going to be the most expensive of the three, which also makes him the likeliest to leave. The Rams didn’t sign him to an extension when they gave deals to Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods and Ramsey, which is telling. He’s probably going to sign a huge contract elsewhere and go on to thrive as an all-around safety.
