Free agency is upon us, which means the new league year – and one of the busiest days of the NFL calendar – will be getting underway soon.
Here are three things for Rams fans to watch for leading into it:
1) What's next after agreeing to terms with Dotson?
Rams general manager Les Snead last week said they anticipated offensive linemen Kevin Dotson to hit the open market in order to find a number that makes sense for both sides, with his situation potentially going into the early window on March 11 at a minimum – meaning the negotiating period that begins Monday, March 11 at 9 a.m. and runs through Wednesday, March 13 at 12:59:59 p.m. pacific time that allows impending unrestricted free agents to enter negotiations and agree to terms on contracts with other teams.
Ultimately, it didn't come to that, as Los Angeles announced it had agreed to terms with Dotson yesterday on a 3-year deal, four days ahead of the negotiating period.
One of the first steps of retaining offensive line continuity is complete. Now, the attention turns to offensive lineman Coleman Shelton – whom Snead also said the Rams anticipate hitting the open market – and offensive lineman and pending restricted free agent Alaric Jackson
2) Will the Rams go for 'gold'?
Even factoring in the 2018 offseason, L.A.'s current combination of available salary cap and draft resources puts the Rams in a position they haven't really been before. Will Los Angeles be big spenders and as aggressive as they were in 2018?
Dotson's deal takes away some of that space, of course, but they will still have an ample amount to work with.
At the very least, it's going to be quite different from last year, when engineering a healthier salary cap future required several departures and filling holes with veteran signings in later stages of free agency.
3) Monitoring the secondary
Defensive backs Jordan Fuller, John Johnson III, Ahkello Witherspoon are impending unrestricted free agents. Snead said the Rams have had conversations with Johnson and Witherspoon's representatives about a role moving forward, and also acknowledged Fuller being a captain factors into his situation as well.
