NFL Nation

          Which Rams are next up for a contract extension?

          Coach Jeff Fisher said the Rams are hoping to sign cornerback Trumaine Johnson to a long-term by summer. AP Photo/Stephen Brashear

          The offseason is here for the Los Angeles Rams and now that we know where they'll be playing their home games for the long term, things have settled down enough to spend our weekends answering a few of your Twitter questions.

          As always, you can find me on Twitter @nwagoner and fire away with any Rams-related questions you might have. Please use hashtag #RamsMail so I can see them.

          On to your questions.

          @nwagoner: Earlier this offseason, I wrote that just because the Rams have a lot of salary-cap space doesn't mean they're likely to go out and spend big on outside players. Some of that was because they wanted to re-sign their own current free agents. But the other piece of the equation was that they wanted to sign guys who could be free agents soon and they don't want to again find themselves in position where all of those players will test the market first before potentially re-signing. That includes all four of the players you mentioned there.

          As it stands, defensive tackle Michael Brockers and cornerback Trumaine Johnson would be free agents after next season, while the Rams have fifth-year options on linebacker Alec Ogletree and receiver Tavon Austin. Johnson is playing under the franchise tag and Brockers is playing under his fifth-year option. The Rams are hoping to get deals done with both, and coach Jeff Fisher said at last week's owners meetings that they're aiming to get something done with Johnson long-term before the July deadline for franchise players to sign extensions. Fisher also said the Rams want to keep Ogletree and Austin, though it's a bit more complicated in their cases. Fisher acknowledged it's all but certain the team will use the fifth-year option on Ogletree, but that seems more unlikely with Austin given his draft position and what that would cost. In a more ideal world, they could sign Austin to a deal more commensurate with his production.

          Also, keep in mind that at some point relatively soon, they're going to have to backup the Brinks truck for Aaron Donald. One way or another, I'm sure the Rams would like to avoid a repeat of this year, where they are unable to sign any of their pending free agents in advance then have to sit through some nerve-wracking moments hoping they don't get outbid.

          @nwagoner: To my understanding, that is up to the local television affiliates. In the Rams' case, that would mean Fox affiliate KTVI-TV Channel 2 in St. Louis for the majority of their games. I suppose the stations will try to get a gauge on how interested local fans are in the team then act accordingly, though it's probably a safe bet that there will be fans of teams such as Chicago and Green Bay who will be lobbying to see those games as well. Still, I'd think there's enough fans following the team combined with those who might want to see them struggle to broadcast at least a handful of the games early in the season, see how they do ratings-wise and adjust from there.