This Rams starter may have just lost his job before camp even begins

Colby Parkinson could become the odd man out

The challenge with adding more talent to a roster is how to reconfigure the roster to optimize the talents of players, while also allowing the team to afford necessary future moves that may be required in case of untimely injuries. In a recent 53-man Rams roster projection, I projected the Rams depth chart at the tight end position to be comprised of Tyler Higbee, Colby Parkinson, and Terrance Ferguson. But holding the depth chart up to the light over time gives me a different sense.

For starters, let's break down the number of targets for the Rams four tight ends in 2024, and how each player managed to convert targets to productive outcomes:

• TE Colby Parkinson | 17 games | 49 targets | 30 receptions | 61.2 % catch | 294 yards | 1 TD
• TE Tyler Higbee | 3 games | 12 targets | 8 receptions | 66.7 % catch | 66 yards | 2 TDs
• TE Hunter Long | 17 games | 9 targets | 7 receptions | 77.8 % catch | 60 yards | 0 TD
• TE Davis Allen | 15 games | 13 targets | 6 receptions | 46.2 % catch | 39 yards | 0 TD

It's pretty clear that from the table above, that the Rams did not get much out of the tight end room in 2024. But let's add some new variables to the your data. Let's look at 2024 salaries and snap counts.

• TE Colby Parkinson | 601 offensive snaps | $3.6 million cap hit
• TE Tyler Higbee | 58 offensive snaps | $12.6 million cap hit
• TE Hunter Long | 279 offensive snaps | $1.3 million cap hit
• TE Davis Allen | 309 offensive snaps | $1.0 million cap hit

Knowing that the Rams were willing to part ways with veteran TE Hunter Long, the team has a curious decision to make this year. Of course, the team could choose to keep four tight ends on the Rams roster in 2025. But unless this team suffers a devastating injury to a tight end before the season starts, that is overkill. The Rams knew that Higbee would be out for almost the entire 2024 NFL season, necessitating more players at the position to fill in the gaps.

But no such need exists in 2024. In fact, with rookie tight end Terrance Ferguson's arrival, the team will be scrambling to redirect offensive snaps in his direction.

So what makes the most sense for the Rams depth chart at the tight end position? This is where things now stand:

• TE - Tyler Higbee | Terrance Ferguson | Colby Parkinson/Davis Allen | Mark Redman | Anthony Torres

* Bold names now projected to make Rams roster, italicized names projected to practice squad.

The team could elect to retain veteran tight end Colby Parkinson, a player who offers a minimal offensive presence at a prohibitive salary cap hit of nearly $10 million. That is more than starting tight end Tyler Higbee's salary cap it is slated to be in 2025. On the other hand, the team could opt to stick with young blocking tight end Davis Allen, who may not offer quite as much offensively as Parkinson, but whose sticker price is just 11 percent the salary cap hit of his teammate.

In light of this new financial information, I'm more inclined to believe that the team may be willing to shed Colby Parkinson to give rookie TE Terrance Ferguson a clearer path to more offensive snaps. And that does not even take into account that the Rams face a serious overpay for Colby Parkinson in 2025. The Rams may prefer veterans on the roster for 2025, but I'm not convinced that the team is willing to pay nearly $10 million for that benefit.

The Rams have salivated over a rookie tight end on this roster for three seasons. Now that he is finally signed, sealed, and delivered, former Rams starting tight end Colby Parkinson may be facing the loss of his job before camp even begins. What's worse, he may lose his roster spot on the team when the 2025 NFL season begins.

UPDATE: Seahawks release TE Noah Fant

If you doubt the belief that Colby Parkinson is now on the bubble, consider the Rams' rival, the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks decided to extend TE Noah Fant over his teammates Colby Parkinson and Will Dissly. Now, with the signing of rookie TE Elijah Arroyo, Fant is superfluous and will be released.

This is the same decision that the Rams must address, hopefully sooner rather than later. Ferguson needs as much work as the team can feed him in training camp. Releasing Parkinson clears the way for the offense to do so. The Seahawks made the call. Now, how long will it take for the Rams to come to the same conclusion?

As always, thank you so much for reading.

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