Rams have the most unsigned 2023 draft picks in the NFL

There are 31 players from the 2023 NFL Draft who have yet to sign their rookie contracts and almost one-sixth of them are members of the Los Angeles Rams. Well, almost members of the Los Angeles Rams.

Of the rookies yet to sign, including eight first round picks, five of the 31 total names were picked by Les Snead and the Rams: third round picks Byron Young and Kobie Turner, plus sixth round picks Tre’Vius Tomlinson-Hodges, Ochaun Mathis, and Zach Turner.

In fact, since there are eight in the first round and 14 in the second round, that means that of the eight players yet to sign who were picked in round three or later, five of those are on the Rams.

We know that the L.A. Rams have been well short on cash, recently restructuring the contract of Cooper Kupp to save over $10 million. This preceded the Rams signing second round pick Steve Avila shortly thereafter. One reason there are so many unsigned second round picks is the same reason that Avila’s contract had an unprecedented amount guaranteed: the NFLPA is trying to get second rounders the same fully guaranteed contracts as first rounders.

Whether L.A.’s third and sixth round picks are being held back for similar reasons is not clear, but the Rams were able to get their fourth and fifth rounders signed.

The Rams will be leaning heavily on Young and Turner, as both can be starters in 2023. Turner has gotten a lot of praise during offseason workouts. Similarly, L.A. may need to ask a lot of Tomlinson, Mathis, and Turner despite being sixth rounders.