At the beginning of the offseason, the Los Angeles Rams were forced to cut Mark Barron to free up some cap space despite him having two years left on his contract.
The hope within the organization was that they may be able to retain Barron at a cheaper price tag as linebacker is still one of the team’s biggest needs.
It appears they were unable to work out a deal though and were outbided by another team as according to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Barron has agreed to sign a two-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers:
Former Rams’ LB Mark Barron reached agreement on a two-year, $12 million deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers, per source. A rare free-agent foray for Pittsburgh.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 17, 2019
Originally a first round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of Alabama in 2012, the Rams traded for Barron in 2014 and since moved him from safety to linebacker.
He has been an essential part of the Rams defense the last few years, but he was limited to just 12 games in 2018 after beginning the season with an injury. Because of that, he recorded just 43 tackles, which was a career-low. He also had a pass deflection and a forced fumble.
The Rams defense is going to look a bit different in 2019 with the departures of Barron, Lamarcus Joyner and likely Ndamukong Suh, who is still a free agent.
Los Angeles signed Eric Weddle to replace Joyner and with not a ton of cap space remaining, they will likely look to the draft to fill their needs at linebacker and interior lineman.
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