Just for kicks? LA Rams could add this kicker to PS Wednesday for competition

At the time with 31 other NFL teams pondering over who on the roster does not quite suit their future needs, the LA Rams have every reason to be shopping the NFL Waiver Wire for players who do suit the LA Rams' future needs.

Isn't it ironic? Don't you think? A little too ironic? Yeah, I really do think.

But why fight it? After all, the objective for the LA Rams roster in 2023 was to assemble the most competitive and economical group of players possible. How the Rams acquire those players is completely irrelevant. So taking a hard look at recently recently Browns kicker Cade York makes complete sense.

While that is not a 'gotta grab,' type of guy, he makes sense to add to the Rams practice squad on Wednesday, August 30. Why?

Rookie kicker inevitably struggle to some degree in their first NFL season. We saw it with kicker Matt Gay, who did not last past his rookie season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, only to be signed by the LA Rams the following season and put up an incredibly display of field goal accuracy and power.

Now here is former Browns kicker Cade York, whose rookie season was fair, but clearly not good enough to secure the role in his second year with the team. And then there are the LA Rams, who are about to embark on that rookie kicker journey with Tanner Brown.

As much as I hate to say it, the choice to stick with Brown right now could prove to be quite detrimental to the team. While he had a small sample size, the Rams accepted the risk of adding rookie kicker Tanner Brown and his limits on field goal distance due to his astounding accuracy. But Brown nailed just two out of four field goal attempts. Even by rookie kicker standards, that is pretty shaky ground to start off an NFL career.

With significant concerns over the defense, and an offense that must pull the train all season for the Rams to have any chance of success, it simply makes sense to plan to add a veteran kicker like Cade York, if for no other reason than to have him on the practice squad in case of emergencies.

Of course, the Rams could throw caution to the wind and simply ride rookie Tanner Brown throughout the 2023 NFL season. We've shown how two rookie kickers did not survive on the same team to play the following year. But, if the Rams truly believe that they could be the exception to the rule, who am I to argue otherwise?