"Old, aging" ? Ask the OL in the league how old and aging AD is to them! Ask RBs around the league how "old and aging" Bobby Wagner is.
Our top 8, AD (32), Ramsey (29), Kupp (30), Stafford (35), Floyd (31), ARob (29), Wagner (33) and Noteboom (28) carry a cap hit of 166.5 mil in 2023.
KC's top 7....Mahomes (28), C Jones (29), F. Clark (30), Kelce (33), Thuney (31) Valdes-Scantling (29) and Justin Reid (26) carry a cap hit of 162.4. Is Frank Clark at 30 next year, "old and aging" for 28.7 mil cap hit? Thuney for 22. 1 mil?
How about SF's top 8? Williams (35), Armstead (30), Bosa (26) last year of his deal, Warner (27), Kittle (30), C. Ward (27), McCaffrey (27) and Lance (23), who isn't old and aging but might not even be in their plans. 145 mil for those 8. Samuels cap hit goes from 8 to 28 in 2024. And they're going to have to pay Aiyuk and Bosa!
The Rams are not ready to collapse but aren't in an ideal situation? So when does KC hit that wall? 2024? SF? Same? Truth is, the talking heads have made the same case you are making.....SB Champs take one on the chin, going 5-12....getting old....in cap hell....so McVay wants to ride off into the sunset. We went 5-12 because our YOUNG guys were injured. The OL injuries were 27, 27, 27, 25, 25, 24 and 23. As a result Stafford was injured. Kupp 29, was injured because our backup QB floated balls to him (before Mayfield). The rest of the injuries were minor. It's hog wash there's some gigantic rebuild coming after this year but it makes a good angle on the McVay story.