Rams GM Les Snead has done an awesome job assembling the current roster in Los Angeles. He’s nailed picks such as Aaron Donald, Rob Havenstein, Tyler Higbee, Cooper Kupp, Sebastian Joseph-Day and several others.
But he’s also missed out on some great players, too, as every team has. Not drafting Bobby Wagner in 2012 might be his biggest mistake. Snead even has a “Bobby Wagner Rule” after trading away from the stud linebacker 10 years ago.
The rule is that you shouldn’t get cute and worry about accumulating picks by trading back if a good player you really like falls in the draft. That was the case with Wagner, who went to the Seahawks at No. 47 overall after the Rams traded the 45th overall pick to the Bears for Nos. 50 and 150.
“I call it the ‘Bobby Wagner Rule. There’s a lot of ways to carve a draft strategy … but the ‘Bobby Wagner Rule’ would be, if a player falls to you and you really want that human being, don’t get cute and don’t worry about those extra draft picks,” Snead said in 2020. “Just take that human being and the rest will take care of itself. Some of the best lessons in this business are learned the hard way.
“That year, Bobby didn’t go to the combine so you maybe thought he would slip a little bit farther in the draft but unfortunately, he didn’t and that’s probably going to go down as the one that got picked right in front of you that has probably hurt the most considering he did go to a division rival and is probably working to a Hall of Fame career with the Seahawks.”
Fast-forward 10 years and the Rams now have the opportunity to add Wagner to their defense. After trading Russell Wilson to the Broncos, the Seahawks are now releasing Wagner, beginning their rebuild by parting ways with two of the best players in franchise history.
The Rams shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to sign Wagner once he’s officially cut. They have a clear need at inside linebacker next to Ernest Jones, who showed promise as a rookie last season. By signing Wagner, the Rams would bolster their linebacker depth with a future Hall of Famer, while also giving Jones the perfect player to learn from for a year or two.
Wagner will be 32 in June but he’s shown no signs of his play dropping off. He’s been a Pro Bowler in each of the last eight years and was just a first-team All-Pro in 2020. He was a second-team All-Pro last season, finishing the year with a career-high 170 tackles, one sack and an interception.
He earned the 10th-highest grade among all linebackers, according to Pro Football Focus, at 71.8 overall. And though he may have lost a step compared to his first few years in the NFL, he still has a nose for the football and is as durable as it comes for a linebacker; he’s missed one game since 2016.
Bringing in Wagner might limit the opportunities for Jones in 2022, but in their base defense, the Rams use two linebackers together. They just prefer to go with nickel and dime packages more often on second and third down when teams are in obvious passing situations.
A combination of Wagner and Jones will look far better than just about any other pairing the Rams might assemble at inside linebacker this offseason.
Wagner might be interested in playing for the Rams at a lower price, too, attempting to win his second ring. He’s from Los Angeles and even though he’s still one of the top linebackers in the league, he’s not going to be one of the highest-paid at the age of 32.
This might be the perfect match between a player and team, given Wagner’s ties to L.A. and the Rams’ need for inside linebacker help.
