The Los Angeles Rams have had one of the best offseasons for any team in the NFL as they came away with several strong signings and extensions.
The Rams’ most important move was agreeing to terms on a revised contract with Matthew Stafford, ensuring he stays with the team through the 2025 season. However, the team also made a couple of impressive free agency signings in Davante Adams and Poona Ford.
Defensively, Los Angeles was one of the best defensive units down the stretch of the 2024 season but the team recognized it still had a need in the middle of the field. With that in mind, the Rams signed former Atlanta Falcons inside linebacker Nate Landman to a one-year deal in free agency.
After his signing was made official, Landman explained why he chose Los Angeles.
“For me, a lot of things went into it. One is the success of this program,” he said. “Two, I’m a West Coast kid. Growing up in California and coming back home was a clear choice. Then, I built a pretty strong relationship last year with [Senior Defensive Assistant] Jimmy Lake. All those things combined allowed for an easy decision. Just super excited to be here, grateful for the opportunity and excited to get rolling.”
Landman has some familiarity with the scheme thanks to his time with Atlanta and expressed his excitement for being able to hit the ground running.
“There’s going to be differences for sure. Everybody’s got their own flavor,” Landman said. “I’m excited to have some familiarity with the defense, knowing how we want to attack offenses, some of the scheme stuff and some of the verbiage. I think that’ll make an easy transition for me coming from a similar scheme and having someone like Jimmy Lake that I have a relationship with.”
Landman also confirmed he had already spoken to Rams head coach Sean McVay and had high praise for him as a coach and leader.
“I’ve had a brief conversation with coach. His reputation is awesome. You can tell he really relates to his guys and he gets the best out of his guys. I’m super excited for him to give me this opportunity and I could tell that they’re excited too. It’s going to be a special year with the pieces they’re adding. With a winning coach like that and the success that he has had, it’s exciting for a free agent player to come in under that sort of leadership.”
The linebacker is expected to immediately start for the Rams and his presence gives them another strong run stopper alongside Ford. The defense’s troubles with the run were a clear focus for the organization and they did well to add Landman.
Rams re-sign Ronnie Rivers to one-year contract
The Rams managed to re-sign a few of their own free agents, including running back Ronnie Rivers who agreed to a one-year deal.
