With a roster slot open, the LA Rams next signing will be . . .

The LA Rams roster has been subjected to quite a few transactions of late, but the net impact of all of the additions and subtractions has left the team with one open roster slot as the team enters Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season. So now, heading into Week 2, you have to wonder: What are the LA Rams waiting for?

This is not a good time to fudge the finances to save a couple of bucks while the Rams progress through the NFL season. After all, the Rams are facing the roughest grouping of teams right out of the gates. It's time to put the pedal to the metal and brace for stormy seas, not bring a clipboard, photos, and stats sheets to the sidelines on an early-season Rams roster shopping trip.

The LA Rams will need 53 players just to prepare to face their NFC West Division nemesis, the San Francisco 49ers. And so, which area is the most likely to be reinforced with a new signing?

Option III: A kicker

While carrying a placekicker on the practice squad is a bit unorthodox, it also brings a tremendous amount of risk with it. The LA Rams may have 'settled,' for a veteran kicker out of necessity, but let's not compound the matter with inviting any other kicker-needy NFL teams to poach a kicker from our practice squad.

Option II: An edge rusher

Has the outcry to get a veteran pass rusher to help the team subsided just yet? While 2.0 quarterback sacks is not going to result in a terrorizing pass rush to opposing quarterbacks, the Rams defensive front did a pretty good job of keeping Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith uncomfortable all day.

Option I: A quarterback

The Rams have just two quarterbacks on the active roster, but entering Week 1 only one quarterback suited up. Backup quarterback Stetson Bennett suffered right shoulder soreness, forcing the LA Rams to activate reserve veteran quarterback Brett Rypien off the practice squad for Week 1.

That's another area of risk. As we have seen, the health of an NFL quarterback can change on one play, and the projections of an NFL Playoff appearance cand quickly plummet to projections of a Top-5 NFL Draft pick.

The New England Patriots just releasesd a serviceable veteran hurler named Matt Corral. Could he be the player that the front office wants to sign to the Rams roster?

And the answer is...

A Kicker!

It appears that the LA Rams have chosen the safest and wisest option, and signed veteran placekicker Brett Maher to the active roster.

While he missed two field goals, Maher did storm back to nail his last three field goal attempts to end the day kicking 3/5 field goals and 3/3 extra points. Some may scoff at signing Maher, particularly after missing his first two field goal attempts. But he did make three field goals, and nailed all three extra points. That is not bad with one week of work.

We will discuss the two additions to the Rams practice squad in a future article. But it does calm my mild concerns that heading into Week 2 to face the San Francisco 49ers, the Rams have an unpoachable kicker safely tucked away on their roster.