The Rams are loath to invest in high-priced players at inside linebacker.
They have not used a high or midlevel draft pick at the position since selecting Ernest Jones IV in the third round in 2021, preferring instead to man the position with undrafted free agents of varying experience.
On Tuesday the Rams stayed on script, agreeing to terms with Nate Landman on a one-year contract. Terms were not announced, but the three-year veteran made $985,000 last season as an exclusive-rights free agent with the Atlanta Falcons, who opted not to tender him a contract as a restricted free agent.
Landman, 26, made 81 tackles and forced three fumbles last season.
Following last week’s free-agent departures of Christian Rozeboom and Jake Hummel, Landman joins a Rams position group that includes second-year pro Omar Speights, Tony Fields II and Elias Neal. Speights is scheduled to earn $963,000, Fields $1.1 million and Neal $960,000, according to Overthecap.com.
Who else the Rams might add through free agency and during and after the draft remains to be seen. But there is no obvious indication that coach Sean McVay, defensive coordinator Chris Shula and general manager Les Snead will stray from the team’s history at the position during the McVay era.
Jones started for the Rams’ Super Bowl LVI championship team as a rookie and became a team captain. But before last season the Rams traded Jones and a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Tennessee Titans for a 2026 fifth-round pick. The Titans traded Jones to the Seattle Seahawks during the season, and the Seahawks recently gave him a three-year contract that includes $15 million in guarantees, according to Overthecap.com.
Last season Troy Reeder, Rozeboom, Speights and Hummel — all undrafted free agents with varying levels of experience — played inside linebacker for the Rams, who advanced to the NFC divisional playoff round before losing to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Rozeboom signed last week with the Carolina Panthers, while Hummel signed with the Baltimore Ravens. Reeder, sidelined the last 11 games because of a hamstring injury, is a free agent.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
