Rams don’t use franchise tag, face tough free agency

If the Rams want to keep linebacker Leonard Floyd and safety John Johnson in their league-leading defense, they’ll have to pay the free-market price.

General manager Les Snead didn’t use the franchise tag to hold onto any of the Rams’ 12 unrestricted free agents by the NFL’s deadline Tuesday afternoon.

That’s no surprise. It’s the third year in a row and the seventh time in Snead’s 10 years that the Rams passed up the chance to hold onto a free-agent player for another season at a guaranteed salary set by the NFL. And the price tags are high — an estimated $15.6 million for a linebacker, $11.2 million for a safety — especially for a team, like the Rams, up against the salary cap.

But it leaves many moving parts to deal with when free-agent negotiations begin Monday, March 15, and the signing window opens next Wednesday.

The Rams’ unrestricted free agents include Floyd, Johnson and cornerback Troy Hill on defense, and wide receiver Josh Reynolds, tight end Gerald Everett and center Austin Blythe on offense.

Cornerback Darious Williams is the Rams’ most notable restricted free agent, meaning the Rams can tender him a contract and thus secure the right to match another team’s offer.

It will be hard for the Rams to hold onto as many of their own out-of-contract players as they’d like, let alone use the free-agent market to acquire a highpriority player such as an explosive receiver to team up with new quarterback Matthew Stafford.

First, they’ll need to complete some combination of roster cuts and contract renegotiations to get under the NFL salary cap.

As of Tuesday, Overthecap.com listed the Rams as $35,136,331 above a projected per-team salary cap of $180.5 million for the upcoming season. (The NFL has yet to set an official cap.) That’s the secondhighest deficit in the league.