Every team in the NFL will need to trim its roster down from 80 players to only 53 by next Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET. There will still be a lot of shuffling in the following days with waiver claims and free-agent signings, but for the most part, each roster will be just about set this time next week.
The Rams are going to have a lot of difficult decisions to make, particularly at deep positions such as cornerback, safety, defensive line and wide receiver. Fifty-three players seems like a lot, but cutting 27 guys at once is never easy.
With one preseason game left, there’s still time for players on the bubble to earn a roster spot. But according to general manager Les Snead, the Rams are almost done setting their 53-man roster and making key decisions with less than a week to go.
“A lot of them have been made,” Snead said on Wednesday. “I probably couldn’t give you an exact number, but there are some unsung jobs on the line. … There’s still definitely some jobs opening. Us in football, we’ll always – if we were saying right there, we’re probably 90-something percent, let’s call it completed, in our evaluation. But I do know this when there’s another test or there’s another opportunity to watch film, think things definitely change with another game to play because those games are their competitive moments and they’re definitely measurable. Things are going to change in Denver, in some form or fashion.”
While there are certainly players who will play against the Broncos despite already locking up a roster spot, they could be fighting for positioning on the depth chart. As Snead said, they might be jockeying to be active on gamedays after making the 53-man roster.
Players in that group might be Micah Kiser, Travin Howard, Justin Lawler, Bobby Brown III, Jake Funk and Bobby Evans. They’re all probably going to make the team, but they might not be active on gamedays.
Then there are the fringe players who haven’t yet secured a roster spot. This final preseason game will be critical for them – guys like J.R. Reed, Brycen Hopkins, Kareem Orr, J.J. Koski and Eric Banks, for example.
Snead knows how stressful this time is for them and the weight that comes with playing this last preseason game, which could be their last audition for a team.
“I’m telling you, it’s hard. Sometimes I don’t wish it upon my own kids,” Snead said of players battling to make the team. “Everybody reaches their dream in some way of getting the chance to fight for one of these jobs, but to sit there every day and know that you don’t really have one yet, like you can taste the dream but it’s not there. The stress, the anxiety there that these young men go through, not everyone – some people know they’re on the team or what have you, different stresses. Are they getting ready to really, really contribute? A unique part of the year. All these young men deserve credit getting to this week and persevering through it.”
Even if the Rams mostly know what their roster will look like, there will be some tough calls to make next Monday and Tuesday when they have to cut a lot of talented players.
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