Rams roster: How it sets up for 2026

Fans of the Los Angeles Rams can take a couple of days to bask in the the sunshine atop the NFC West and the afterglow of knocking off their two top competitors (Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers) in successive weeks. Before taking off the shades and picking up the lounge chair to get ready for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, let’s take a look ahead. Not past tough matchup with the Bucs, but rather a day trip to next season and how the roster and salary cap sets up.

Will the team be relatively similar to this year’s successful group or are wholesale changes on the horizon?

The three major categories for this exercise are free agency, 2026 roster under contract, and salary cap. While it’s always fun to speculate on the list of big name free agents, let’s limit it instead to which Rams are set to hit market. Then on to who’s under contract for 2026 and close on estimating the salary cap and where it could be spent.

Free agency primer

Unrestricted free agent – Players with four or more accrued seasons are allowed to negotiate and sign with all teams. To accrue a season, players must be on a team’s roster for at least six games in a season.

Restricted free agent – Players with three accrued NFL seasons. Can negotiate with any team, but as a protection, the Rams team may place a “tender” (Rd. 1, Rd.2, original Rd., or right of last refusal) on these players and receive that compensation if said players leave. If the players do not receive a tender by the league’s first official day of business (mid-March 2026) they become unrestricted free agents.

Exclusive rights free agent – Players with two or fewer accrued seasons. As long as the Rams submit a qualifying offer (league minimum based on players service) these players are locked to the team. No other options. These qualifying offers must made before the league’s first official day of business.

Rams 2026 free agents

Regular starters in bold.

QB Jimmy Garappolo (UFA)

RB Ronnie Rivers (UFA)

WR Tutu Atwell (UFA), Xavier Smith (ERFA)

TE Tyler Higbee (UFA)

OL Rob Havenstein (UFA), DJ Humphries (UFA), David Quessenberry (UFA), Justin Dedich (ERFA)

LS Jake McQuaide (UFA)

DL Larrell Murchison (UFA), Keir Thomas (RFA)

ILB Nate Landman (UFA), Troy Reeder (UFA)

S Kamren Curl (UFA), Quentin Lake (UFA)

CB Ahkello Witherspoon (UFA), Cobie Durant (UFA), Roger McCreary (UFA)

That’s five FA’s who have been recent Rams defensive starters. Stay, or go? Landman has certainly been a huge value at $1.1mil, so he’s in line for big raise, yet the Rams wouldn’t pay Ernest Jones $10 mil per just two years ago. While the secondary players have all been serviceable to good, are any of the five “must haves”? Would the L.A. defense be improved and take another step up with their return? Or have they reached their ceilings and need to be replaced?

On the offensive side, it...