LA Rams FA OT Joseph Noteboom: re-sign, sign, draft, or promote?
The LA Rams Free Agency strategy for projected free agent offensive tackle Joseph Noteboom include: Re-sign, sign a new FA, draft, or promote.
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The LA Rams have a number of potential free agents facing them as their contracts expire, but perhaps no single player will foster more debate than what to do with offensive tackle
Joseph Noteboom. Noteboom is a player who has played in 47 games for the LA Rams over his four-season NFL career.
Over those four seasons, he has started just 17 games. Before injury in 2019, he played and started all six games at left guard. The following season, he resumed his starting role at left guard for two games before falling to injury. When he returned, he had lost his job to teammate David Edwards. He remained on the bench until starting left tackle Andrew Whitworth fell to injury in Week 9 against the Seattle Seahawks. The starting role then fell to Noteboom, who played well enough for the remaining seven games to help the LA Rams earn a playoff berth as the sixth seed.
Noteboom returned in 2021, the last year of his rookie contract, with no realistic chance of winning a starting role. But he was an experienced starter at both the left guard and the left tackle position, and he played well enough in both roles to be one of the team’s primary backups on the offensive line.
Durability, dependability, and versatility
The LA Rams would need to tap that experience twice more during the 2021 NFL season. In Week 8, Noteboom would start in place of Whitworth again. This time it was to give Whitworth a chance to heal a banged-up knee. The rest worked, and Whitworth returned to duty the following week. Noteboom was clearly up to the challenge as the Rams dominated the Houston Texans by a score of 38-0 until the Rams pulled their starters.
In Week 14, Noteboom would be promoted to a starting role once again. This time, in place of right tackle Rob Havenstein, who had tested positive for COVID-19. Once more, Noteboom played well.
The LA Rams would need to count on Noteboom once more, this time in the Wildcard Round of the NFL Playoffs after Andrew Whitworth was shaken up after his
ankle and knee were rolled up on by a Cardinals defender. Noteboom played the final 33 snaps of the game seamlessly.
Re-sign Noteboom
Of course, the first and optimal option for any player the Rams were happy with starts with an extension or re-signing him. And I can assure you that the Rams are quite pleased with Noteboom. Like wanting nothing but the best for him. He would be someone who would be extended without hesitation if the organization had the money to do so. But the
Rams Free Agency decisions are inherently complex. They currently have
$190,313 available salary-cap space projected for 2022 (as of January 20, 2022).
The LA Rams know exactly who Joe Noteboom is, and what he is all about. He has shown up each year, put in the work, paid his dues, and deserves his big contract. But even more than that, he deserves his shot to start on an NFL offensive line. The trouble right now is that he has earned a shot to start at left tackle, the most vital position on an offensive line. But 40-year-old Andrew Whitworth shows no signs of slowing down.
What role to Rams see for 2022?
If a team envisions Noteboom as a clear starter at offensive left tackle, Noteboom’s market price shoots up to a multi-year deal, say in the 3-4 year range, with an average per year that will run anywhere from $7-10 million. If the market insists that Noteboom is best valued as a versatile backup, then that deal will likely fall in the two-year range with a total valuation of $5-8 million.
Ideally, the Rams would prefer to get Noteboom signed to the latter contract. Even if they get him cheaply, do not think for a minute that the team would hesitate to start him. But look for a team like the Kansas City Chiefs, who are themselves projected to lose their offensive left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., to make a strong play for Noteboom. In the face of a bidding war, I would expect the Rams to pursue other avenues.
