The Los Angeles Rams have added a player to their defense, claiming defensive end Derek Rivers off waivers from the New England Patriots. Rivers, a former third-round pick in the 2017 NFL draft, was waived by the Patriots last week.
Rivers won’t be eligible to play for the Rams on Monday night against the Buccaneers, but the move will be made official on Tuesday. Field Yates of ESPN was the first to report the transaction.
The Rams claimed former Patriots DE Derek Rivers off of waivers. The move will become official tomorrow with the Rams playing tonight vs. the Bucs.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) November 23, 2020
Rivers hasn’t panned out since being drafted in the third round three years ago, struggling to stay on the field and healthy. He’s suffered two season-ending injuries in his career, once in 2017 and again in 2019.
As a result, he’s played just 14 games and hasn’t made a single start. In those 14 appearances, he has 2.5 sacks and six QB hits.
The Rams play the Patriots in a couple of weeks, so perhaps he can provide some inside information on his former team and the defense it runs. Los Angeles currently has plenty of depth at outside linebacker, but this could be a bad sign for Ogbonnia Okoronkwo’s recovery from an elbow injury.
Sean McVay said he doesn’t know when Okoronkwo could be activated off IR, having been on there for the last six weeks.