NFL Rumors: Rams to Cut Leonard Floyd If Unable to Find Trade; Won Super Bowl with LA

Leonard Floyd helped the Los Angeles Rams win the Super Bowl during the 2021 season, but his time with the team reportedly could be coming to an end.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Los Angeles is "expected to release" the linebacker if it cannot find a trade partner.

ESPN's Field Yates noted that the Rams could create $15.5 million in cap space for 2023 by releasing Floyd with a post-June 1 designation. They would create only $3 million in cap space for the upcoming season if they released him without a post-June 1 designation.

Expectations were high for Floyd when he entered the league as the No. 9 overall pick of the 2016 NFL draft, but he never lived up to them when he was with the Chicago Bears for his first four seasons.

He notched seven sacks as a rookie but failed to tally more than 4.5 in any of the next three seasons. The Bears declined his fifth-year option, and the Rams signed him ahead of the 2020 campaign.

The Georgia product wasted no time taking advantage of playing alongside Aaron Donald and posted a career-best 55 tackles and 10.5 sacks in his first year with the Rams. Los Angeles then signed him to a four-year, $64 million deal, and he posted a combined 18.5 sacks over the past two seasons.

Floyd had a sack in the Rams' divisional-round win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and another in the Super Bowl LVI win over the Cincinnati Bengals during their run to the Lombardi Trophy.

Yet Los Angeles is in the middle of a roster transition this offseason in an effort to create more financial flexibility.

Schefter reported the team and linebacker Bobby Wagner mutually agreed to part ways, while Cameron DaSilva of USA Today's Rams Wire noted Los Angeles is "weighing trade possibilities involving Jalen Ramsey and Allen Robinson."

Competing in the NFC West without some of those veterans may be a daunting challenge in 2023.