As the Rams’ general manager, Les Snead has hit some home runs in free agency. Adding Andrew Whitworth and Robert Woods in 2017 set the foundation for the franchise’s turnaround. Adding Ndamukong Suh in 2018 helped them get to the Super Bowl. Signing Odell Beckham Jr. in 2021 – albeit, not during the offseason free agency period – helped them win it all two years ago.
Snead has also had some misses, including Courtland Finnegan and Jared Cook in his first two years at the helm. We can now add Allen Robinson to that list of free agency whiffs.
In fact, Robinson might be the Rams’ worst signing in over a decade.
The combination of his cost and lack of production made this a disaster for the Rams. Granted, it’s not Robinson’s fault that he suffered a season-ending foot injury 10 games into the year, but he did nothing to help the offense prior to that.
And now that the Rams are trading him to the Steelers (pending a physical), the three-year, $46.5 million deal Los Angeles gave him last offseason looks even worse. The Rams are moving on from Robinson after just one season and they’re paying a hefty price to do so.
The Rams will have paid Robinson $25.75 million in cash for a grand total of 33 catches, 339 yards and three touchdowns. There were 134 players in the NFL last season that had at least 340 yards, for reference. Four players on the Rams even had more receiving yards than Robinson.
The Rams deserve some credit for admitting their mistake and moving on from the veteran receiver instead of paying him even more to put up disappointing numbers in 2023, but there’s no denying how bad this signing turned out to be.
There was so much hype around him last summer, too. He was making eye-popping catches in training camp and receiving rave reviews for his character and work ethic in practice and meetings. But it simply didn’t work out.
And because Robinson is on his way out of Los Angeles, the Rams have to not only eat $21.45 million in dead money this year, but they’ll need to replace him on the depth chart, too – whether it’s with a rookie or a free-agent signing.
They’ll manage this financial hit, but it’s a blemish on Snead’s otherwise impressive resume.
