Rams Sign Free Agent Royce Freeman Following Sony Michel’s Retirement

The Los Angeles Rams have agreed to terms with free agent running back Royce Freeman. Terms of the deal were undisclosed.

Freeman was signed immediately following the news of Sony Michel’s retirement. Michel had previously agreed to a one-year deal to return to Los Angeles but with him retiring it left one open spot on the training camp roster.

Freeman appeared in four games during the 2022 season with the Houston Texans where he rushed 41 times for 117 yards. He also added six receptions for 35 yards. In 2021, he split 15 games between the Carolina Panthers and Texans where he amassed 169 rushing yards, 10 receptions and 77 receiving yards.

The 27-year-old was originally a third-round pick of the Denver Broncos in the 2018 NFL Draft, spending three seasons with the franchise. During his tenure in Denver, he appeared in 46 games, making eight starts. Freeman recorded 1,187 rushing yards, 69 receptions, 409 receiving yards and nine total touchdowns.

Freeman was a standout at Oregon as he rushed for 5,621 yards and 60 scores in four years, making him a promising prospect at the NFL level. However, he was never able to fully put it all together and found himself bouncing around the league the past few seasons.

The Rams have their lead back in Cam Akers, but the No. 2 spot is largely unsettled due to the youth and inexperience of the rest of the room. Freeman is a known quantity at this point of his career, but will at least have the opportunity to compete for a spot alongside Kyren Williams, Zach Evans and Ronnie Rivers.

More likely than not, Freeman will end up getting cut from the roster at some point of the offseason but bringing in a more experienced back for competition is never a bad idea. His chances of making the roster are slim, but at this point of training camp anything can happen if the other options fail to make an impression.

Cam Akers focused on gaining weight in offseason

Akers is going to be the focal point of the Rams’ ground game as he is by far and away the team’s best pure runner and arguably pass catcher. With an increase in workload, Akers has been doing his best to keep up with his conditioning during the offseason.

Aside from that, the talented back also mentioned that he’s looking to add much more weight to his frame. While he didn’t specify a number, it seems that Akers is looking to be more forceful on the ground and in between the tackles.