Rams get running back Sony Michel from Patriots to replace injured Cam Akers.
Michel acquired from Patriots in trade
The first time the Rams encountered Sony Michel, in Super Bowl LIII against the Patriots, the running back presented a gamechanging problem.
“When we were preparing for Sony then, you felt him even on film,” Rams general manager Les Snead said of Michel, who rushed for 94 yards and the goahead touchdown that night two-anda-half years ago. “There’s the cut, he’s getting north and south, the linebacker’s meeting him, and maybe he’s getting a yard and a half, two more yards after the (hit).”
The next time the Rams see Michel, on the practice field today, he’ll be greeted as a potential season-saving solution.
In acquiring the 26-yearold ballcarrier from the Patriots in a trade Wednesday, the Rams didn’t just fill the hole created by Cam Akers’ pre-training-camp Achilles tendon injury.
They filled it relatively cheaply with a productive and experienced biggame player who can add a straight-ahead dimension to the Rams’ running-back group led by Darrell Henderson.
“We felt that if we could add the right person with the right experience, that would help patch things up and get our roster back to where we wanted when we
came in,” Snead said a few hours after the early-morning trade announcement.
Whether Michel will start, split carries with Henderson or be part of a three-back rotation including Xavier Jones or rookie Jake Funk, will be a decision left to Rams coach Sean McVay.
But Snead described Michel as a good “complement to Darrell, Jake and Xavier,” and envisioned Funk and Jones being able to take bigger roles if needed as the season progresses than in the opener against the Bears on Sept. 12 at SoFi Stadium.
“That’s going to be a complementary backfield,” Snead said. “What he does bring is this element of make a cut, get north and south.”
Michel, 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds, instantly becomes the most accomplished running back on the Rams’ roster.
He rushed for 931 yards as a rookie in 2018 after being drafted out of Georgia in the first round (31st overall), and he had 94 yards and a 2-yard touchdown to break a fourth-quarter tie in the Patriots’ 13-3 Super Bowl victory over the Rams.
He followed that with 912 yards on the ground in 2019, before a quadriceps injury sent him to injured reserve and limited him to 449 yards in nine games last season.
Among the first to congratulate Michel on the trade was Todd Gurley, the Rams’ running back in that Super Bowl and a fellow Georgia alum, who tweeted: “Yessirr bro LFG.” Michel hit the retweet button.
The Georgia connection also applies to Rams running backs coach and assistant head coach Thomas Brown, a former Bulldog who knows Michel already.
The trade, agreed to Tuesday night, was possible because the Patriots are deep at running back and always looking to accumulate draft picks.
Ostensibly, the Rams are sending New England a fifth- and a sixth-round draft pick in 2022. But those will be replaced by a fourth-round pick if, as expected, the Rams receive a fourth-rounder as compensation for losing safety John Johnson as a free agent last spring.
For once, the Rams aren’t trading away a first-round draft choice. They already traded away their 2022 firstrounder — along with their 2023 first-rounder and 2021 third-rounder and quarterback Jared Goff — to the Lions in January in the deal that brought quarterback Matthew Stafford to L.A.
Michel comes relatively cheap financially. He’s entering the final season of a fouryear, $9,626,695 contract after the Patriots declined to pick up his fifth-year option. His salary for 2021 is $1,792,731, but he becomes a free agent next spring.
To make room for Michel under this week’s 80man roster limit, the Rams waived long-snapper Steven Wirtel, who was beaten out by Matt Orzech.
That roster includes five running backs, including rookie Otis Anderson, the number with which the Rams started the 2020 season.
But before Michel’s expected arrival in town Wednesday night, Henderson was the only Rams running back who’d ever taken a handoff in an NFL regular-season game.
After Henderson sprained a thumb in practice Monday, a reminder of his history with injuries and the lack of depth at the position, McVay was asked if the Rams had the running backs they needed or were looking for help.
“I think we’re still in the process of figuring that out. We’ve got a little bit of time,” McVay said.
Two days later, they reached for help.
The Hakker question
Snead offered no assurance that four-time All-Pro punter Johnny Hekker will make the 53-man roster that must be named Tuesday.
“That decision’s not made,” Snead said. “If we decided to move on from someone like Johnny Hekker, that’s done what he’s done for the Rams, that’s not just a yes-no decision. There’s a lot of discussion into that. No way is that one made at all.”
Hekker, 31, whose nine years with the Rams make him the dean of their current players, has the NFL’s top salary for a punter, is coming off his worst season, and has been competing with free-agent acquisition Corey Bojorquez (Mayfair High, Cerritos College).
Scrimmage planned
The Rams will hold an intrasquad scrimmage — closed to fans — this morning at their Thousand Oaks facility to give their regulars some game-like reps.
The backups, including players fighting for roster spots, will take over again for the Rams’ final preseason game against the Broncos on Saturday in Denver.