The NFL gave the Rams one of the worst disadvantages in the league this year

We already knew that the NFL schedule screwed the L.A. Rams by giving them four games against opponents who are coming off of their bye weeks, but Warren Sharp put that stat in other terms: The Rams have a -28 day rest advantage, worst in the NFL.

The only other team to face four teams coming off of a bye is the San Francisco 49ers, while none of the other 30 teams have more than two such contests. None of the 49ers four games are back-to-back, while both sets for the Rams are back-to-back stretches against teams coming off of a bye week.

Strap in for the 2023 season being the ultimate test of competitive spirit for Los Angeles.

Also noted by Sharp is the fact that the Rams now have the “cheapest” defense in the NFL, not including dead money cap hits. Aaron Donald is the only player making significant money and he makes $5 million more than the rest of the defense combined, as we noted in April. Last season, L.A. ranked seventh in that category.

The offense was the most-expensive in the NFL in 2022, to 25th this year, and the Rams spent the least amount of money on free agents this year. That’s probably a good thing. We posted a poll on Twitter today asking to grade L.A.’s offseason (get your votes in) and the best compliment for Les Snead is that the team didn’t foolishly try and restock the team by spending money again.

Plus, maybe with younger, inexperienced players, they’ll be able to handle that rest disadvantage a little better.