The Rams spent money in the first week of free agency, does the media think they did good?
ProFootballFocus gave the L.A. Rams a B grade for the first week of free agency after signing upgrades to the offensive line and secondary. The Rams signed guard Jonah Jackson and tight end Colby Parkinson on the first day, then added cornerback Darious Williams to help a weak secondary from 2023.
In addition, the team released center Brian Allen, as well as re-signing Kevin Dotson and Demarcus Robinson before they could leave for other teams.
PFF notes “question marks” at both tackle spots and said that their analysts were underwhelmed with A.J. Jackson, so addressing the guard and center spots with these moves could help L.A.’s offensive line up the middle.
A trade to the Los Angeles Rams and a move back to his natural spot at right guard proved to be a slam-dunk success for all parties involved. Dotson took a minor pay cut off his proven performance escalator salary for 2023 and now signs a top-of-market deal at guard just 12 months later.
This is an interesting deal for a few reasons. First, the Rams got great play at left guard from rookie Steve Avila. Second, the Rams just extended right guard Kevin Dotson to a three-year, $48 million extension last week. Third, they still have question marks at both tackle spots. However, they should have an absolutely bruising run game between the tackles. We were underwhelmed by Jackson’s pass-blocking ability in his 2023 film, but the league clearly viewed him as an ascending young player, because his market was very strong.
This is a big-time deal for Parkinson, but he’s coming off a great year as a stout in-line blocker who has improved as a pass catcher over time. Tight end Tyler Higbee could miss a lot of time in 2024 with a torn ACL suffered late in 2023, so the Rams needed to make a bigger move in smaller free agent and draft classes at the tight end position.
Parkinson is perhaps the most divisive move that the Rams have made so far, but he is a young player who was ascending on the Seattle Seahawks and could have the tools to be the heir apparent to Tyler Higbee.
Williams may be the move that is under a microscope when the season begins just because cornerback is such a weak spot and the Rams have been looking for someone to help since trading Jalen Ramsey to the Miami Dolphins.
Is “B” a fair grade?
I doubt Les Snead is nearly done with his offseason moves before the draft.
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