The Los Angeles Rams are going to look much different come the 2020 NFL season as several key players have departed the roster this offseason.
However, the most glaring omission from the Rams roster is Todd Gurley, who was cut last month in a surprising move. The star running back saw his production dip in the 2019 NFL season and it gave the front office enough reason to part ways with him before his lucrative extension even kicked in.
Rams head coach Sean McVay did not provide too many answers when talking about the controversial decision, but said multiple factors went into it, Gary Klein of Los Angeles Times:
“To say that one thing goes into that wouldn’t be accurate,” McVay said. “I mean, these are conversations that require a lot of different directions and kind of projections based on where we’re at, where we want to be not only this year but years from now.”
However, he did not admit that he could not have imagined cutting Gurley so soon when he first took the Rams head coaching job:
“To say if that was something that I think you could have ever anticipated, I think that the answer is no, you don’t,” McVay said. “But what you do learn is that there’s a, you know, things are ever-changing and your ability to adjust and adapt and be able to react accordingly to what we feel like is best is the most important thing, and, you know, that’s where we’re at.”
It certainly was a shocking move, to say the least, given that the Georgia product had recently signed his lucrative extension after a dominant 2017 NFL season where he won the NFL Offensive Player of the Year award. Gurley was the centerpiece of McVay’s potent offensive scheme as he excelled at both running the football and receiving out of the backfield.
Despite his success, Los Angeles quickly found itself strapped for cap space as they made several other expensive deals with players like Aaron Donald, Jared Goff and Brandin Cooks while also trading for Jalen Ramsey, who will need an extension of his own soon. All the cap gymnastics made Gurley a logical cut, but the choice to move on from him may hinder general manager Les Snead’s ability to build depth for the foreseeable future.
For now, the only thing the Rams can do is prepare for the 2020 NFL Draft as they have several needs they need to fill. They are rumored to be looking to address running back and offensive tackle, so it will be interesting to see how they manage their picks once draft day arrives.
