While he’s not completely out of the woods, Los Angeles Rams starting left tackle did receive some good news earlier this week.
The veteran offensive lineman will not face criminal charges in the case stemming from his arrest for suspicion of domestic violence in early June. NBC Los Angeles reported this week that the L.A. City Attorney’s Office will not file criminal charges in the case, although they’re also not closing the case file entirely yet. Jackson will now have other options instead of being
charged, which can potentially include attending a class or community service, among other outcomes.
This is the first step for Jackson when it comes to moving past this latest incident, but he (and his team) aren’t totally in the clear yet.
As we know, the NFL doesn’t rely on the criminal justice system to influence its own disciplinary actions. The league has shown time and time again that criminal charges don’t need to be filed off the field for the commissioner’s office to issue punishment based on the personal conduct policy.
That leaves Jackson in limbo with the league, considering he already served a two-game suspension for violating the personal conduct policy in 2024 and dealt with another alleged domestic incident last November. It’s not out of the question to think Roger Goodell and the NFL will punish Jackson again for another highly publicized incident.
With that in consideration, the Rams don’t necessarily have any more clarity for their left tackle spot than they did before this latest news. It’s a positive that Jackson, who’s entering his sixth year in the league (all with the Rams), won’t face felony charges, but with a suspension potentially looming there’s still a realistic chance L.A. will have to find a temporary replacement at left tackle for several weeks.
Unsurprisingly, the free agent market for left tackles is barren in mid-July. The Rams aren’t in a huge bind when it comes to cap space, currently sitting with over $18.8 million available according to OverTheCap. That doesn’t account for first-round pick Ty Simpson, who still hasn’t signed his rookie deal, but even setting aside a few million for him leaves Los Angeles with some flexibility.
The issue is that the caliber of player still unsigned at that spot is concerning, at best, if you need them to start multiple weeks. As covered here at TST last month, former Detroit Lions standout Taylor Decker is still available, although the expectation is that he has a high asking price, not to mention serious concerns about his health. D.J. Humphries remains unsigned, and while he would be affordable and has familiarity with the system after playing eight games for the Rams in 2025, he hasn’t even been a league-average contributor in several years. Beyond that, it’s slim pickings on the free agent front.
Internally, the realistic options to fill in for Jackson if he misses time are likely veteran David Quessenberry and rookie Keagan Trost, which isn’t an especially inspiring set of options (though, in fairness, backup linemen rarely are in any context).
The Rams are fully in wait-and-see mode when it comes to Jackson and his availability to start the season. Ideally, he avoids a suspension and is ready to go for Week 1. But that’s far from a guarantee, even with the fact he avoided felony charges in this case. If he ends up suspended by the NFL, L.A. will have to cobble together some kind of solution to keep Matthew Stafford’s blindside protected to start the year. That’s not an ideal place to be with training camp just two weeks away.
