When the Los Angeles Rams released long-time middle linebacker James Laurinaitis last week, the gist of the move was to shift Alec Ogletree from outside to inside to replace Laurinaitis.

The motivation was twofold: The Rams believe Ogletree will blossom playing inside, where his size, speed and instincts make him an ideal fit. But they also want to make Mark Barron the full-time starter at the Will linebacker position, Ogletree’s former spot.

Barron replaced an injured Ogletree after Ogletree was lost for the season four games in last year with a fractured ankle. Barron recorded a career-high 113 combined tackles last year, and after playing at safety, cornerback and linebacker since adding him to the roster two years ago, the Rams want Barron to stay put at the Will.

The problem is, Barron is an unrestricted free agent. And while the Rams want to bring him back – and by all accounts he wants to come back – he is expected to draw plenty of outside interest.

Barron was a first-round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012 as a strong safety – the seventh pick overall – but things didn’t work out in Tampa and the Rams were able to trade for him in 2014.

It turned out to be a genius move, with Barron turning into a defensive force last season. Now they want him back on a long-term deal.

“We really liked Mark coming out, draft wise. And we were surprised to some extent that he was available and so we took advantage of it,” Fisher said. “So we just kind of plugged him in and Gregg (Williams) is good at moving people around and creating opportunities, and then early on in the season unfortunately we lost Alec and Mark’s reps increased and I thought he had a really good year. If you see there’s a trend in the league for that kind of guy. And we feel he really fits in our defense so he’s a priority from the standpoint of getting him re-signed.”