It's already now or never for these five seldom seen vets on the Rams roster

V: OLB Keir Thomas

The LA Rams have not sat idly by since shedding almost every veteran outside linebacker from the roster during the 2022 NFL season. One of the survivors from that unexpected culling is outside linebacker Keir Thomas. Ironically, Thomas is a former Florida State Seminoles outside linebacker who was signed to the team after the 2022 NFL Draft. The irony is that the team drafted his replacement, outside linebacker Jared Verse, with the 19th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Thomas is a burly edge rusher who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 275 pounds. When he arrived in 2022, he was a promising young edge rusher who seemed to possess a great deal of promise. Unfortunately, his role with the team has not shown much growth. In his rookie season in 2022, he converted 71 defensive snaps into four tackles and two tackles for a loss. In 2023, he leveraged 94 defensive snaps into six tackles and two quarterback hits.

That is not what the team hoped for from the young edge rusher.

Rams roster needs upgrades at edge rusher

This team had plenty of opportunities on the roster for 2023 for young edge rushers who could get after the quarterback. But none showed much fight behind starting OLBs Byron Young and Michael Hoecht. Here is the distribution of defensive snaps in 2023 for all Rams outside linebackers:

While you can see by the data table above that the Rams roster was sorely lacking in productive edge rushers in 2023. And it was that fact that prompted the front office to draft both former Seminoles OLB Jared Verse and former Cougars OLB Brennan Jackson in the 2024 NFL Draft. Presuming that both Verse and Jackson earn a spot on the 53-man Rams roster, you are in save territory to anticipate at least two of the players named above who are neither Byron Young and Michael Hoecht to already be on the bubble.

And of that group, Keir Thomas is the only veteran not returning from his rookie season.