After releasing 5 players, the LA Rams sign… 4 of them back?

The LA Rams released five players on Tuesday, May 17, 2022. But by Wednesday, May 18, 2022, they had re-signed four of them. Is someone in the LA Rams front office guilty of butterfingers? Or was this all some weird ‘let’s throw them off the scent’ type of gaff that entertains the typical stoic personnel executives in the Rams front office?

In any case, the LA Rams have four young prospects back. To learn more about them, I would recommend pausing reading this article, and clicking on this link to learn more about the players who were released but then re-signed by the Rams.  So who was re-signed by the team just 24 hours after their release?

Well, that means that the Rams have created one open slot, not five open slots, on their roster. But before we speculate as to who will fill that vacancy, let’s at least show some respect by discussing the player who is still released: Oregon State outside linebacker Andrzej Hughes-Murray.

In our original article introducing the young man, we did note that he “may appear to be a long shot“, and from what we see right now, that seems to be the case. Andrzej Hughes Murray was a bit undersized for the outside linebacker role at 6-foot-2 and 246-pounds. But he did offer an intriguing ILB/OLB option for the Rams if he had remained on the team.

His release this early could simply mean that something was amiss. Failed physical? Bad first impression?  Whatever the cause for the instant dismissal, we certainly wish Hughes-Murray success in the next chapter of his life.

So who may be on the radar to fill that empty slot? Well, one empty roster spot certainly changes things, doesn’t it? Here are our three best guesses (yep, absolute SWAGs – scientific wild-arsed guesses):

QB D’Eriq King

The LA Rams clearly wanted to sign a quarterback after the 2022 NFL Draft, but the only quarterback from the 2022 class who is currently available is D’Eriq King, an intriguing quarterback/offensive weapon who was just released by the New England Patriots.

Curiously, the Patriots had positioned him in their practices in a non-quarterback role. For the Rams, he will at least be given the training camp role of quarterback. So he could be a player on the radar for an immediate role.

OLB Carl Nassib

We had just published an article on the perspective that with five open roster spots, the LA Rams may be seeking to add a veteran outside linebacker, and free agent OLB Carl Nassib’s name had been linked to the Rams in the past. In the face of five open roster spots, the fit just made too much sense.

In light of the fact that the Rams now only have one open roster spot, the likelihood of Nassib being signed is significantly less. But I would not rule out the possibility altogether. You see, the lone player released by the Rams was in fact an outside linebacker. The Rams are still in need of dependable and durable players at that position. So while Nassib may not be the guy, I would not take him off your radar screen just yet.

WR Odell Beckham Jr

The consensus mood for the return of Odell Beckham Jr. is not IF the LA Rams will re-sign him to the roster, but rather WHEN they will resign him to the roster. The facts are that OBJ wants to play for the Rams, and the Rams want OBJ to play for the Rams. So all that is left is the ticky-tack contract language that both sides can agree to sign.

Is that imminent? Well, both sides have likely engaged in the effort for weeks. And the pressure is mounting on the LA Rams to get the deal done, but who is the pressure mounting upon?  I would be more inclined to suspect news of an OBJ return if it came on the heels of news about the LA Rams signing new contract extensions with either Aaron Donald, Cooper Kupp, or both players.

So for now, we know that the LA Rams have one open roster spot. We know that the Rams want to add another quarterback to the roster for training camp. We know that the Rams and Odell Beckham Jr. want to reunite for the 2022 NFL season. And we know that the Rams just released an outside linebacker, which just so happens to be a position in need of roster depth.