With Free Agency officially starting in the National Football League (NFL) tomorrow, let's find out what news has happened around the Los Angeles Rams in the past week before this key period begins. With new uniforms announced, a player being arrested and trade rumors surrounding a starter there is a lot to of moving parts around this rebuilding team.
New Uniforms announced for 2017
The Rams new uniforms for 2017 got announced as part of an "evolving" of their look, since they can not do a full redesign until 2019 due to NFL rules. Their white jerseys will remain the same, but they rest of the uniform got changed.
The team will now return to the blue and white helmets that they wore during the 1960s and 1970s. These helmets will now have white face masks. They also eliminated the gold from the pants on both versions of their uniforms, with the only gold being a stripe and the team logo on the shoulder. Their blue road pants will have the gold stripe replaced with white. The home uniforms will have one solid blue stripe, as voted on by the fans.
Ethan Westbrooks arrested
Rams defensive lineman Ethan Westbrooks got arrested Sunday night in Sacramento. He got arrested on suspicion of domestic violence due to a child custody dispute with the mother of one of his children. The woman has injuries on her upper body, but they are non-life-threatening.
An undrafted player from West Texas A&M, Westbrooks had worked his way into becoming a key backup player for the team. However, he is a restricted free agent and this incident puts his future with the team in doubt.
A new signing, tender and trade rumors
The team's first official move of the offseason was signing former Utah Utes QB Travis Wilson to play tight end, a position he never played in college.
A cheap signing, at worst Wilson is an extra body during training camp. The next move the team made was to franchise tag CB Trumaine Johnson for the second straight year at a price of $16.7 million. However, sources around the league are now suggesting that the Rams are listening to trade offers from other teams for him. There is speculation over multiple teams possible interested in him, like the Titans or Jaguars.
For a trade to happen Johnson would have to guarantee he would sign a long-term deal with the new team. Finally, they put a first rounder tender on restricted free agent defensive tackle Dominique Easley. He was a surprisingly good pickup by the team last season after not panning out in New England.
