Rams, Wagner mutually part ways after one season
When Bobby Wagner signed with the Rams as a free agent last March, the happy homecoming for a Southern California high school star, bringing his experience in defending a Super Bowl title, looking forward to two chances a year to stick it to a team that dumped him, seemed too good to be true.
It was.
Wagner lived up to his end of the bargain, and was named the 2022 Rams’ MVP by his teammates. But the inside linebacker couldn’t save the 2021 champions from falling apart and missing the playoffs. They couldn’t even get him a revenge win in either NFC West game against the Seattle Seahawks.
Thursday, in a surprise that makes sense, the Rams and Wagner agreed to part ways, said a source with knowledge of the situation, confirming an ESPN report.
Wagner’s release by the Rams won’t become official until the start of the new league year March 15, at which point the 32-yearold, an eight-time Pro Bowl selection and six-time Allpro, will be able to sign with another team as a free agent.
For the Rams, releasing Wagner brings savings against the NFL payroll cap at a time when they’re $14.8 million over the limit for next season, according to Overthecap.com.
He had signed with the Rams for $50 million over five years after being unceremoniously released by the Seahawks, also for salary-cap reasons. The Rams will be charged $7.5 million against the cap in “dead money” for 2023. But they’ll net a gain of $5 million in cap space.
For Wagner, who helped the Seahawks win the Super Bowl following the 2013 season — and saw them throw away a repeat at the goal line — being released by the Rams could allow him to join a team on the verge of a title.
As for who could step into Wagner’s role as defensive signal-caller, the leading in-house candidate could be Ernest Jones, who moved from every-down inside linebacker to a rotational role after Wagner arrived.
Other inside linebackers on the roster or injured reserve at the end of the season were Christian Rozeboom, Jake Gervase and Jake Hummel.
They’ll certainly miss Wagner, who led the team with 140 tackles, and presumably he’ll miss Southern California — again.
The former Colony High (Ontario) football and basketball star talked about playing closer to his Inland Empire roots after he signed with the Rams last March, reportedly accepting lower pay than he could have received elsewhere.
“Realistically, I haven’t been able to play in front of my family consistently since high school,” Wagner said then. “They always had to get on a plane to come see me. Now it’s a drive. So I’m excited to be able to be in front of my family, be closer to home and kind of re-establish myself out in L.A.”
After watching film of the Super Bowl champion Rams of 2021, he said: “Being a part of a team like that is pretty cool.”
But it wasn’t the same team in 2022, going 5-12 as Wagner was one of the few stars who stayed injury-free enough to play all 17 games.
Through it all, including two losses to the Seahawks (he intercepted a Geno Smith pass in the first), Wagner earned praise from coach Sean Mcvay.
“I think just watching how committed he is to a process, to a standard of a consistent approach regardless of the circumstances,” Mcvay said, in November, of what impressed him. “We always talk about the difference between a thermostat and a thermometer, and he truly is a thermostat, where he doesn’t let the external circumstances dictate going low or high.
“He’s always ramping things up, and that’s as big a compliment as I can give anybody, especially just given the perspective that this year has given me, and, I think, a lot of people in our building.”
The Rams’ season changed perspectives on what they and Wagner each need, so they’ve agreed to move on.