Free agency provides Rams a perfect opportunity to re-build secondary

The Los Angeles Rams will have some decisions to make this offseason as it pertains to the secondary, specifically the cornerback position. Last offseason, the Rams put a band-aid on the issue, signing Darious Williams and Tre White in free agency. After White didn’t work out, the Rams brought back Ahkello Witherspoon who was a good fill in over the back half of the year.

From a logistical standpoint, there will be plenty of opportunity to finally address the secondary for the first time since the team traded away Jalen Ramsey. Williams will be 32 going into next season while Witherspoon will also be on the wrong side of 30. The Rams need to get younger at those spots and the 2025 offseason should allow them to do just that.

Cutting Williams would save the Rams $3.8-million and it’s very possible that the team looks to move on this offseason. Williams was a steady presence last year on the boundary, but his smaller frame isn’t going to allow him to age well.

Bringing back Witherspoon is also an option, but let’s play a little Rams guessing game.

• Player A: 60.5 Coverage Grade, 7 PBUs, 62.3% reception percentage, 0.45 EPA/target
• Player B: 58.5 Coverage Grade, 6 PBUs, 69.6% reception percentage, 0.37 EPA/target

Player A in this scenario is Derion Kendrick in 2023 while Player B is Ahkello Witherspoon last year. The point here is that the Rams were disappointed when they lost Kendrick last season. Despite giving up two more touchdowns and 11 penalties, Kendrick only had an EPA per target of 0.08 higher than Witherspoon. With a better pass-rush and more development, it’s fair to wonder how Kendrick would have performed.

It’s worth noting that most of Kendrick’s penalties and both of his touchdowns allowed came before Week 11 in 2023. After his snaps got lowered for three weeks, he played much better when he returned to a full-time role.

That’s not to say that the Rams should insert Kendrick back into the starting lineup. However, it doesn’t make sense to bring Witherspoon back for depth and he’s a player that the Rams can look to find an upgrade.

Again, the Rams need to upgrade on the boundary and find players there that fit their current timeline. It’s impossible to fix everything in one offseason which is why applying duct tape on the cornerback last year made sense while they re-built the pass rush.

With money to spend in free agency, the Rams will be able to invest more in that position and this is a deep free agent class at cornerback. There are three players that the Rams could especially have their eyes on in free agency.

Asante Samuel Jr.

There are certainly flaws when it comes to Samuel, especially when it comes to his size. He’s not a huge help in run support and he is coming off of a shoulder injury that limited him to four games in 2024. The injury is something that the Rams will need to do their homework on. Samuel does have a smaller frame, but that’s not something that will turn the Rams away from him. He has inside-out alignment versatility and is someone that was seen as a fit pre-draft in 2021. With that said, he fits better on the boundary. Samuel is a smart, instinctive player who is good on the ball.

In 2023, Samuel allowed a catch rate over expected of -5.0 percent while ranking fifth in the NFL in pass breakups with 11. Samuel also allowed an EPA per target of 0.23. Additionally, he has four years of experience at just 25 years old and he fits the current Rams timeline.

Spotrac Market Value: 4 years, $45,855,852

Paulson Adebo

Adebo is very similar to Samuel Jr. in the sense that he is another good, young perimeter cornerback. The Rams have lacked a difference-maker in the secondary over the last two years and that’s exactly the type of player that Adebo is. He had three interceptions in seven games last year and seven pass breakups in three of the last four years. Adebo had a career-high 11 pass breakups in 2023.

Unlike Samuel, Adebo brings some size to the outside at cornerback and isn’t necessarily a liability in the run game. Still, the negative with Adebo is that he is coming off of a broken femur. The Rams will need to do their background work, but at 25 years old, this is another young player that should be able to recover. He also has a tendency to be a little grabby in coverage due to his aggressiveness. Again, Adebo is another player that was a fit in the 2021 NFL Draft and should fit the current timeline with the core players on defense.

Eric Stokes

Stokes hasn’t necessarily lived up to his first-round draft stock, but that doesn’t mean that he also can’t be a value free agent this spring. Due to his injuries and some of his struggles, he shouldn’t cost too much. The combination of those things doesn’t mean that Stokes isn’t a good player or can’t hit his ceiling in a new environment. As our friends over at Acme Packing Company wrote,

“He’s always been a developmental prospect, and injuries have hit him with the double whammy of costing him needed development time while also robbing him of his greatest tools…Stokes is still relatively young, and because of his recent struggles and injuries, he likely won’t cost much…We know that Stokes CAN produce based on his rookie season. We know he’s been robbed of some development time due to injuries and likely due to Joe Barry, we saw some turnaround last year under more competent coaching, and the man is still quite young… If you believe that he can regain his once-elite speed, then Stokes likely possesses something like elite upside.”

Stokes would be a bit of a risk, but it might be one that pays off if the Rams can get a clean bill of his medicals. Among players with at least 240 coverage snaps after Week 10 last season, Stokes ranked fourth in reception percentage allowed, second in receptions allowed, first in yards per reception, and 13th in passer rating allowed. Stokes was also the third-least targeted cornerback during that period. For a one-year deal with upside, the risk could pay off.

Other Cornerback Options

• Byron Murphy
• DJ Reed
• Kendall Fuller
• Kristian Fulton
• Mike Hughes
• Corey Ballentine
• Ifeatu Melifonwu
• Charvarius Ward
• Carlton Davis
• Jonathan Jones

The overall point here is that there are a lot of cornerbacks set to become available in free agency. If the Rams want to upgrade at that spot, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to bring back the same players and simply hope for a better result. That doesn’t mean that the Rams should throw money at a free agent cornerback. There isn’t necessarily a top name available, but rather some solid number two cornerbacks that can be paired with a rookie.

At the end of the day, the Rams need to invest at the cornerback position and running it back with Darious Williams and Ahkello Witherspoon likely isn’t the best path forward. If the Rams can find another young cornerback with experience or a veteran that can provide a steady presence, that’s the direction that they should go in 2025 at the position.