The NFL’s deadline to franchise tag players has come and gone and the Los Angeles Rams opted not to use theirs on kicker Matt Gay.
This doesn’t come as a huge surprise considering the Rams rarely franchise tag players and definitely haven’t done so with a kicker.
Gay has been nothing short of outstanding since joining the Rams in the middle of the 2020 season, however. In 41 career games with the Rams, Gay has made 74 of 80 field goal attempts (92.5%) and 95 of 97 extra point attempts (97.9%).
That type of production is what every team strives to get at the kicker position, so it’s not surprising to see that Gay will generate a lot of interest on the free agent market, via Mike Garafolo of NFL Network:
The #Rams are not using the franchise or transition tag on K Matt Gay, source says. One of the most accurate kickers in the league the last few years (60-for-64 in FG attempts the last two), the 2021 Pro Bowl selection is expected to have significant interest as a free agent.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 7, 2023
The Rams have said for a while now that they’d like to keep Gay long term, and according to Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic, L.A. will be one of the teams with interest in free agency:
Not a surprise as the Rams do not use the tag. They’re going to try to get an extension worked out with Matt Gay, but he will have a market so it’s gonna depend on how competitive that gets. https://t.co/nVqZ6mXSGJ
— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) March 7, 2023
As much as the Rams want to keep Gay, it’s hard to imagine them being able to do so considering they lack cap space and he will likely command one of the biggest kicker contracts in the league.
According to recent reports, the Rams are likely going to trade Jalen Ramsey, Leonard Floyd and Allen Robinson to free up cap space, and that’s after releasing Bobby Wagner.
Using that added cap space on a kicker isn’t exactly a great use of limited resources, especially when the Rams have so many other holes on their roster. If there is a deal that works for both sides though then surely all Rams fans will be happy to have Gay back in 2023 and beyond.
