Rams latest PS addition adds enticing option for 2023 NFL season

The LA Rams front office is already making moves that have some fans scratching their heads. After all, this is a team with an ever-growing list of positional needs for the 2022 NFL season, and certainly a much longer list for next season. But that’s okay, as the Rams’ free agency signings continue. The latest news is that the team just filled the need of . . . backup punter?

Yes, that’s right. A backup punter named Brock Miller was added to the team’s practice squad. Does the name sound familiar? It should. Miller was signed to the Rams roster twice before: Once in 2017 and once in 2019. While he didn’t make the Rams roster then, perhaps the third time is the charm? Still, the Rams have a punter. So why did the team add a punter to the Rams roster (albeit the practice squad)? And why now?

The truth of the matter is that the Rams’ current punter, veteran Riley Dixon, is on a one-year contract. So how has Dixon been doing? Well, the jury is hung up on that. He does some things rather well, but other things not so much.

Less 2022, but perhaps 2023?

I don’t view this addition so much of a reinforcement for the last two games of the 2022 NFL season as an insurance policy for the upcoming 2023 NFL season. I don’t know how the Rams are viewing Dixon’s performance this year, but when I look at his numbers, I’m only tepid about his return at best. Adding Brock Miller, whose stock is rising after a solid season in the USFL, ensures that the Rams are not scrambling in the offseason to bring in someone who is an unknown.

So how does this help the Rams in 2023? Players on the practice squad are easily converted to the next season by signing a Reserve/Future contract.  So what is it about current punter Riley Dixon that negates his return? Well, let’s look at that :