The edge defender free agent market got another boost when Leonard Floyd joined it. After spending the last three seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, Leonard Floyd was released as a cap casualty with the Rams continuing their teardown.
He was the most recent piece to be on the move as the team also cut linebacker Bobby Wagner and traded Jalen Ramsey to the Miami Dolphins. Their defense is going to look drastically different in 2023 with all of the impact veterans that have been moved on from.
Losing Leonard Floyd is a painful one for the Rams. He is an excellent pass rusher, racking up at least 9.0 sacks and 19 quarterback hits in each of the last three seasons. That kind of production will be difficult to replace, but there is a franchise out there that will be very happy he is now available.
Teams can never have too many pass rushers and Leonard Floyd is the best one on the market. Any franchise that may have missed on the first wave of players will now have a chance to snag him off of the open. One of the teams who could look into signing him is the Green Bay Packers.
The Packer pass rush took a major hit in 2022 when Rashan Gary suffered a season-ending injury in Week 9. That left Preston Smith as the only player constantly getting after the quarterback. Even when Gary is healthy, having Leonard Floyd rotate in would be helpful for the defense.
Green Bay’s defensive coordinator, Joe Barry, was the linebackers coach for the Rams in 2020 when Leonard Floyd had 10.5 sacks. Green Bay’s scheme is the same, making for an easy transition.
Another team to keep an eye on is the Packers’ NFC North rivals, the up-and-coming Detroit Lions. Detroit selected Aidan Hutchinson No. 2 overall to become the anchor of their defensive front and there is no better time than now to continue upgrading around him.
The Lions did a great job upgrading their secondary this offseason and they should be much improved in that area. Adding another pass rusher of Leonard Floyd’s caliber alongside Hutchinson and James Houston would give the team three strong pass rushers to get after the quarterback.
Aaron Glenn’s unit showed signs of improvement near the end of the season. With the infusion of talent that has already occurred and bringing on someone such as Leonard Floyd, the defense will improve by leaps and bounds.
