How have injured players complicated LA Rams roster cuts?

The LA Rams need to get down to a 53-man roster and have less than 150 minutes to do so.  They are currently at 71 players. That means they must move 18 players off the active roster. While that in itself is a difficult feat, the fact is that it has become doubly difficult thanks to the fact that the Rams have so many players with questions as to their immediate availability.  You see, the path to 53 is a very windy and twisting road from where the LA Rams are right now.

Currently, the Rams roster includes A’Shawn Robinson, Ben Skowronek, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, and Terrell Lewis. All have questions about their availability at the season opener on September 12th. And yet, all are likely expected to contribute to the team at some point during the 2021 NFL Season.

If the team assigns any of these players to injured reserve before the 1:00 pm PT deadline, that effectively ends the season for that player.  After the deadline? Players can be transferred to the Injured Reserve with a designation to return in as little as three weeks’ time. So any players who the Rams hope to move to Injured Reserve for a short-term basis must be on the initial 53-man roster.

Rams Roster

While many expect the work to be finished at the moment the roster reaches 53, that will likely not prove to be true for the LA Rams. On the contrary, the real work may begin there as the team will likely move several players to Injured Reserve, and then have to decide if they re-sign known players after they clear waivers, or sign new players who have intriguing skillsets for the 2021 season.

So even as we compile the list of players cut by the LA Rams on the LA Rams: Roster Cuts Tracker, some of those players may be re-signed to the 53-man roster after they clear waivers and after the Rams move players to Injured Reserve.

On the flip side of that, there is a raging debate over who the LA Rams will keep at punter: Corey Bojorquez or Johnny Hekker. Well, as long as Hekker remains on the reserve/COVID-19 list, the Rams do not need to make that decision.  That is one quirk of the rulebook that may actually go in the team’s favor.

With under 150 minutes remaining and 18 cuts to go, things will pick up suddenly for the Rams. Stay tuned.