11 Los Angeles Rams Who Won't Return Next Season

2. Ahkello Witherspoon

Another every-down player, Akhello Witherspoon played more snaps than anyone else on the Rams' defense. That consistency will be missed when he leaves in free agency, but his actual play won't be hard to replace.

Witherspoon definitely showed some flashes, and had a couple of pretty stellar games. But dominating the 2023 Arizona Cardinals doesn't exactly speak volumes about your play.

He was thrown at in coverage 106 times on the season, and PFF tracked him as having 663 coverage snaps. It is not a good sign as a DB when opposing quarterbacks are looking your way that often (especially when the other corners aren't playing well either).

After showing a ton of promise and upside early in his career, Witherspoon was derailed by injuries in 2021 and 2022, so the Rams only gave him a one-year "prove it" contract in 2023. And while he managed to stay healthy, which is going to be a big plus as he looks for his next contract, I wouldn't go as far as to say he "proved it" with his play.

The Rams don't have many major needs this offseason, so it's not like there needs to be a desperate fast answer here. They don't need to overpay Witherspoon just to keep some continuity. They can afford to address the position with a highly-drafted rookie or by making a bigger free-agent signing without worrying that they'll have hurt themselves too much by ignoring another need.