There was a new addition to the NFL’s 2023 free agent class on Thursday when the Los Angeles Rams and Bobby Wagner mutually decided to part ways.
The Rams decided to release the star linebacker for salary cap reasons, as they look to regroup after finishing 5-12 the season after winning the Super Bowl.
Wagner won’t officially become a free agent until the official start of free agency, which will be on March 15.
Won’t be official until the start of the league year so he won’t be able to sign with teams just yet. He will join the new free agent class that will be free to sign on March 15. https://t.co/CKILyBshqD
—Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) February 23, 2023
Wagner had a bit of a down year, as he wasn’t voted to the Pro Bowl for the first time since 2013, but he is still a major difference-maker, and he could be the final piece to a championship puzzle for the team that is lucky enough to snag him a few weeks from now.
He put up 10 tackles for losses, 10 quarterback hits, six sacks, and five passes defended in 2022, and he was named to the All-Pro second-team, making it the ninth straight year he made it onto either the All-Pro first or second-team.
The Rams mightily struggled this season despite returning almost all of the core players that won them the world championship just over a calendar year ago.
Wagner was one of the team’s few newcomers, as they acquired him to be a replacement for Von Miller, who joined the Buffalo Bills last offseason.
At age 32, Wagner should still have plenty of football left in him, and he has the experience that comes with playing on the 2013 world-champion Seattle Seahawks, who trounced Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos in that season’s Super Bowl.
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