Rams waive 7th-round rookie LB Clay Johnston

The Rams have waived their first rookie from the 2020 draft class.

The Los Angeles Rams didn’t do much to address the inside linebacker position in free agency or the draft, and the one player they did select in April’s draft isn’t going to make the 53-man roster.

The Rams have waived rookie linebacker Clay Johnston, whom they selected in the seventh round out of Baylor. He’s the 18th player to be waived by the Rams in the last two days, bringing their roster down to 62 players ahead of Saturday’s deadline.

The Rams must trim their roster to 53 players before 1 p.m. PT today. Johnston confirmed the news on Instagram, as well.

Johnston suffered a torn ACL in October but was working his way back to 100% this summer. He had an uphill climb to making the roster as a seventh-round pick, especially coming off an injury.

He’s a candidate to land on the practice squad, however, with the Rams being thin at inside linebacker heading into the season.