Since Sean McVay became the head coach in 2017, the Los Angeles Rams have been aggressive in free agency and the trade market. They’ve traded picks for players more than a few times, acquiring the likes of Jalen Ramsey, Matthew Stafford and Von Miller.
There’s no denying that their plan worked, seeing as they won the Super Bowl a year ago, but we also saw the cost of that approach last season when they went 5-12. Granted, injuries played a bigger role in their struggles than a lack of talent, but it was a tough year regardless.
The Eagles used the Rams’ blueprint this season to reach the Super Bowl, trading for A.J. Brown and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, signing Haason Reddick in free agency and adding both Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph in-season.
Andrew Whitworth was on the “Pat McAfee Show” this week and he explained the differences between the Rams and Eagles’ “all-in” tactics. He feels the Eagles are much better set up for future success than Los Angeles is.
“I think the tough part for the Rams when people look at it to this year is that you have people retire, you have people move on. In Philly, you have a scenario where there is some free agents and some guys that are leaving, but they still have a lot of draft capital, they still have a lot of great players on their roster that are gonna be there for years to come,” Whitworth said. “It’s a little bit different than what we did. I think the Rams started the trend, but Philly has really maximized it. You look at the draft capital that they have and being in the Super Bowl and the young talent they have, they could be really good for years to come. I think that’s definitely different than really the Rams’ model because right now, they’re in a tough situation salary cap-wise.”
McAfee followed up by asking whether Whitworth believes the Rams are in trouble – to put it nicely.
“They’re in a tough situation,” Whitworth replied. “You’re gonna have to figure out a way to not only manipulate the cap some, but you don’t have a lot of draft capital, you don’t have a lot of things to build on this year and say ‘All right, we’re gonna have a rebound.’ It’s gonna be built on, man, just hoping guys come back healthier and we can play better.”
The Rams are currently $14 million over the cap for 2023, while the Eagles are $4 million clear of the limit. The biggest difference is the Rams are paying Stafford $40 million a year compared to Jalen Hurts’ $1.5 million salary on his rookie contract – which has a cap hit of only $4.8 million in 2023.
Hurts’ inevitable raise will bring the Eagles back to reality, but there’s no question they’ve taken full advantage of his rookie deal, just like the Rams did with Jared Goff in 2018 when they went to the Super Bowl.
