Rams release former starting center Brian Allen

Allen, who was one of the five starting linemen for the Rams Super Bowl victory, was released on Wednesday

The Los Angeles Rams have made one of their first big moves of 2024, releasing former starting center Brian Allen. It was an expected money-saving move, as Allen was a cap hit of over $8 million this coming season.

Allen was the starting center for LA’s offense when they won Super Bowl LVI. At the beginning of 2022, Allen signed a three-year extension worth $18 million to keep him in Los Angeles, but he never lived up to the contract and was injured most of 2022, only playing five games total. He was eventually demoted to a reserve role behind Coleman Shelton at the start of 2023.

Moving on from Allen will force the Rams take on $3.15 million in dead money. However, instead of Allen counting for a $8.05 million hit against the cap, he’ll now only take up a little over $3 million, saving the team about $4.9 million against the cap for the coming season.

It’s possible the Rams will soon make a similar move with LT Joe Noteboom. His release would save the team about $5 million in cap space, unless they decide to use the post-June 1 designation, which would bump their savings up to $15 million but would also force the team to wait until June to get the available money.

It will remain to be seen if the Rams will use this money to offer an extension to Coleman Shelton, last year’s starting center who is set to become a free agent this offseason, or look elsewhere to improve the position. Shelton started all 17 games for the Rams this season, but finished the year with a PFF score of only 64.5 and with the likes of Las Vegas Raiders C Andre James and Miami Dolphins C Connor Williams available, among others, the Rams could be tempted to solidify the middle of their OL even more.

What do you think the Rams should do with the extra cap space, resign Shelton or bring in someone new? Comment below.