5 LA Rams players who won’t be back for the 2020 season

Wide receiver JoJo Natson

Small and speedy wide receiver Jojo Natson has delivered some memorable punt and kickoff returns for the LA Rams over the years. He does that very well and has carved out a niche for himself on the LA Rams roster in recent years.

The new trend among the NFL teams is versatility.  Players who can fill multiple roles. While that reduces specialization, and therefore the opportunity to excel at any one thing, it gives NFL teams the ability to be flexible in calling plays and disguising schemes.

Natson is a niche player. At 5-foot-7 and just 153-pounds, he simply does not have the build to be durable enough for significant usage in an NFL game, let alone the 16 game season.  The Rams justified using him in about 20 percent of the special teams plays with his rookie contract which cost just $645,000.  Now that Natson is a restricted free agent, he could be seeking a contract of $1.5-2 million. That’s simply more than these LA Rams will be willing to pay.

Natson is a huge impact on the LA Rams return game. He averaged over 22 yards per kickoff return in 2019.  But the Rams will be looking to make better use of that roster spot, and his potential 2020 salary cap hit.

The Dallas Cowboys, having poached both Rams’ special team coaches, will be more than happy to offer Natson his next contract. Meanwhile, the Rams could look to add a speedster in the NFL draft or an undrafted free agent to duplicate the price and production of Natson in 2020.