Don’t be surprised if NFL teams snatch up waived LA Rams players

The LA Rams love to add offensive weapons, but then struggle to find room to keep them all on their 53-man roster. This year, moreso than other years, NFL teams are counting on that. Some NFL teams have a knack for finding offensive linemen in the draft. Other teams have a knack for finding linebackers in the draft. Whether the Rams front office is not comfortable at that task, or simply opt not to, they do not do very much with those positions in any NFL Draft.

Oh, but put up tight ends or wide receivers? Suddenly the LA Rams are picking them out of the draft like a kid at the penny candy counter with a fresh dollar bill in his pocket. Even though the LA Rams had Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, Van Jefferson, Trishton Jackson, Tyler Higbee, Johnny Mundt, Brycen Hopkins, and J.J. Koski returning to welcome veteran free agent DeSean Jackson, the Rams drafted more.

There is Tutu Atwell, Ben Skowronek, Jacob Harris, Jeremiah Haydel, Landen Akers, Kyle Markway, and Kendal Blanton.  16 players. Last year, the Rams carried just 10 players combined, and Nsimba Webster was more of a returner than a receiver.

So who are the six who are waived?

I get stuck after four.

Los Angeles Rams

There is plenty of talent on this team. And if the reports are correct, there simply isn’t enough talent to go around in the 2022 NFL Draft. So the Rams will need to try sneaking a couple of developmental players through to next season.  There’s the rub.

As soon as the Rams waive players to meet their 53-man roster limit, other teams have free access to claim players off the Rams waivers. So it will become a bit of a strategic maneuver. Will the Rams try to slip Ben Skowronek through to the practice squad? He’ll never make it. Will the Rams abandon tight end, Brycen Hopkins, in the hopes of stashing him on the practice squad? He’ll never make it either.  Historically, the Rams carried six receivers and four tight ends in 2020. Even if the team repeats that allotment, the team will part ways with some very talented players who will make the 53-man roster elsewhere.

I think that’s why the Rams’ focus on wide receivers can be frustrating to some fans. The ultimate objective is to improve the talent on the team’s roster. But if adding a rookie bumps a returning player who is good, what is the incremental improvement, if any?  Some fans are very expressive about the Rams’ inability to address positions like the offensive line or linebacker positions adequately in the NFL Draft, and they make a valid point.  The team faces mass attrition as nine contracts expire and one veteran likely retires. No such attrition impacts the wide receiver group in 2022.

The Rams drafted and signed a lot of offensive weapons this offseason. Let’s hope that, unlike a child who buys a lot of candy, they aren’t sick afterward as a result.