Rams sign OLB Leonard Floyd

The LA Rams are signing former Chicago Bears linebacker Leonard Floyd to a one-year, $10 million contract, per Adam Schefter. The deal is worth up to $13 million according to Schefter’s source.

Floyd, 27, is most notable for being the ninth overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. He had exceptional athleticism for his 6’6, 244 lb frame — 4.6 40-yard dash, 39.5” vertical, 10’7” broad jump — and he drew a pre-draft comparison to Eli Harold by NFL.com ... a comp that seems even more fitting given their careers. Harold spent four years in the NFL and through Floyd’s first four seasons he may be at a point where he really needs to prove himself in order to sign a guaranteed contract with another team next year.

After posting seven sacks in 12 games as a rookie in 2016, Floyd posted 4.5 sacks in 10 games in year two, then seven sacks total over the last two seasons. The Bears picked up his fifth-year option but released him this week, meaning that the signing won’t factor into the Rams compensatory pick formula.

Still, the $10 million price tag is most of what LA is expected to have remaining to spend in free agency. It may be that a corresponding move is coming that could free up more space, but this would seem to be an answer to losing Dante Fowler to the Atlanta Falcons hours earlier.