Tag: ben skowronek

Rams are trading Ben Skowronek to Texans instead of cutting him

Rather than cutting Ben Skowronek, the Rams have found a trade partner and will send him to the Texans

It was reported earlier on Thursday that the Los Angeles Rams cut Ben Skowronek, which came as a big surprise. However, the move wasn’t made official and instead of releasing Skowronek, they’re actually going to trade him.

According to reports, the Rams are trading Skowronek to the Houston Texans. The Rams aren’t getting much in return from the Texans, as the two teams will swap picks in the sixth and seventh rounds in 2026.

Skowronek is entering his fourth season in the NFL and was a special teams captain last year for the Rams, while also starting 11 games at wide receiver in 2022.

The Rams drafted Jordan Whittington in the sixth round this year so he’ll be a candidate to replace Skowronek on special teams and as the fourth/fifth receiver.

 

Salary cap impact of Rams releasing Ben Skowronek

How much cap space will the Rams save by releasing WR Ben Skowronek?

The Los Angeles Rams are unexpectedly releasing fourth-year receiver Ben Skowronek, a surprising move at this point in the offseason.

This probably isn’t a financially driven decision, given Skowronek’s affordable contract. With more than $11 million in cap space, the Rams have plenty of room to not only sign their draft class, but also a veteran if they’d like.

This decision will save Los Angeles some money, however. According to Over The Cap, Skowronek was set to have a $1.076 million cap hit in 2024. By releasing him, the Rams will save $1.055 million, so his remaining dead cap charge will only be $21,131.

It is worth noting that with Skowronek’s contract coming off the books, another player will replace him in the top-51 cutoff, so the savings won’t be as large as the $1.055 million.

While not a big savings, it could give the Rams a little bit of added flexibility when it comes to the salary cap. That doesn’t make the timing of this release any less puzzling, though. Seeing Skowronek get cut months before training camp even begins is shocking.

Perhaps the Rams knew they planned to cut him later this summer and wanted to give him a head start on landing with another team before camps open.

Rams surprisingly release WR Ben Skowronek

The Rams made an unexpected move on Thursday, releasing wide receiver Ben Skowronek from the offseason roster.

Update: The Rams are instead trading Ben Skowronek to the Texans for a late-round pick swap in 2026.

The Los Angeles Rams don’t have to trim their roster down to 53 players until September but they made a surprising release on Thursday. According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, the team released fourth-year receiver Ben Skowronek.

Skowronek played 45 games for Los Angeles in the last three seasons after being a seventh-round pick in 2021. His best season came in 2022 when he made 11 starts and caught 39 passes for 376 yards, while also rushing for one touchdown.

In addition to contributing on offense, Skowornek was a special teams captain last year. He played a career-high 71% of the special teams snaps in 2023.

The Rams added Texas wideout Jordan Whittington in the sixth round of the draft this year, which put Skowronek’s job security in danger. They also re-signed Demarcus Robinson and Tyler Johnson this offseason, so they have plenty of depth at wide receiver.

Look: Ben Skowronek rocking Matthew Stafford’s high school jersey before playoff game

Ben Skowronek showing respect to Matthew Stafford by rocking his high school jersey before kickoff

Matthew Stafford is back in Detroit for his first game since being traded to the Lions three years ago and he has his entire team rallying around him. Rams receiver Ben Skowronek showed Stafford some respect before kickoff by rocking the quarterback’s high school jersey from his days at Highland Park in Texas.

Stafford was a star at Highland Park and eventually went on to play at Georgia and was drafted first overall by the Lions in 2009. He never won a playoff game with the Lions, but he’s gone 4-0 in the postseason with Los Angeles and will try to make it 5-0 tonight.

Sean McVay applauds Puka Nacua, Ben Skowronek for their contributions in the run game

Sean McVay spoke highly of Puka Nacua and Ben Skowronek for helping the Rams run the ball with success vs. the Cardinals.

The duo of Puka Nacua and Ben Skowronek finished with four receptions for 26 yards on seven targets — which was all contributed by Nacua — for the Los Angeles Rams in their win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Even though they didn’t contribute gaudy numbers in the passing game, Sean McVay credited Nacua and Skowronek for their contributions in the rushing attack.

“The toughness, the selflessness,” McVay said of what he saw from them. “You’re looking at guys playing the receiver position, all the different things that we ask of them. I’m glad you brought up Puka too, because some of the things that we were doing with him, based on their personnel groupings and their matches, you can’t do that unless you have a player like Puka Nacua. He was a huge factor, basically an extension of the line and the tight ends. The run game, we talk about it taking all 11. I thought Matthew’s management of getting us in and out of some of the right looks was key and critical, but it was truly the epitome of it takes all 11 to be able to run the football efficiently and that was on display. I love those guys.”

The Rams ran the ball only three times in the first half, entering the locker room with a 9-6 deficit after two quarters. McVay and the Rams would make a concerted effort to pound the rock in the second half, finishing the game with 179 rushing yards and a touchdown on 28 attempts en route to a 26-9 victory.

Kyren Williams led the way with 158 yards and a score on 20 attempts, and he ripped a few explosive runs. For the running game to be firing on all cylinders, McVay has always preferred to have receivers who can contribute in both facets of the offense.

Nacua has become a trustworthy option for Matthew Stafford through the air, but he’s always able to display his physicality when he’s blocking in the run game. Meanwhile, Skowronek rarely sees any action in the passing attack as the Rams deploy him as a run blocker more often than not.

The offensive line unquestionably deserves a ton of credit for manufacturing rushing lanes for Williams and company in the second half. At the same time, guys like Nacua and Skowronek have proven to be invaluable in the running game for the Rams at the receiver position.

Rams injury report: Alaric Jackson a game-time decision, 2 others questionable

Alaric Jackson, Tyler Higbee and Ben Skowronek will all be questionable for Sunday’s game against the Colts

The Los Angeles Rams haven’t had many injury questions through three games this season, but they have a few heading into Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts. Sean McVay said Friday that three players will be questionable to play: Alaric Jackson, Tyler Higbee and Ben Skowronek.

Jackson is dealing with a hamstring injury suffered Monday night against the Bengals, while Higbee and Skowronek have Achilles injuries that could affect their statuses for Sunday’s matchup with the Colts.

McVay said Jackson will likely be a game-time decision, which is concerning for the Rams. After Jackson went down in Monday’s loss, the offensive line took a major step back. If Jackson misses the game, it’s unlikely the Rams would plug Zach Thomas in at left tackle again.

John Johnson III, who has only played four defensive snaps, is questionable with a face injury after being added to the report Friday.

On the Colts’ side, Anthony Richardson has cleared the concussion protocol and is expected to play against the Rams. The statuses for Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner are unknown for Sunday, as both of them are listed as questionable.

Starting center Ryan Kelly has also been ruled out, as has tackle Bernhard Raimann.

Predicting which WRs will be active for Rams in Week 1 vs. Seahawks

Sean McVay pictures the Rams keeping 5 or 6 WRs active on game days, so who could those players be in Week 1?

The time is nearly here for the Los Angeles Rams — and the other teams in the NFL — to trim their roster down to 53 players ahead of Week 1. Sean McVay was recently asked about how many wide receivers the Rams plan on making active on game days, and the seventh-year head coach shared some insight on the team’s current plan.

“That’s a good question. I don’t know that I have an ideal,” McVay said. “A lot of times my mindset goes to, what does the 48 look like on game day? And there’s different ways you can get to that. I would say that probably would be anywhere between five and six, if I was going to guess who I anticipate being active on game day. Now what the active roster looks like, there could be a little bit more flexibility and there’s a lot of things that affect that relative to other position groups. Who are the guys that are right on the cusp of, in that 53? But in a lot of instances, my mindset and mentality goes to, what does the 48 look like not exclusive to just the 53? And that’s typically been in the five to six range for us.”

Under McVay, the Rams have typically had five or six receivers dress on game days as each team can make 48 of their 53 players active. It appears the Rams will deploy the same strategy this season, beginning in Week 1 versus the Seattle Seahawks.

With the Rams preparing to make roster cuts in the coming weeks, we’ll be predicting the six wide receivers that will be active in the season opener against the Seahawks.

Mike LaFleur provides update on Rams’ WR competition in training camp

Mike LaFleur spoke about the WR competition that is taking place during Rams’ training camp right now.

Outside of Cooper Kupp and Van Jefferson, none of the other wide receivers on the Los Angeles Rams have secured definitive roles in the offense yet. Among other position battles that are going on, Mike LaFleur shared an update on the current wide receiver competition that is taking place during training camp.

“Similar to the (Offensive) O-line there’s a lot of guys that played last year at that position, a lot of positions across this team, that weren’t planning on it, no different with the receivers,” LaFleur said. “Probably (not) having (WR) Cooper (Kupp) in (Organized Team Activities) OTAs was good for all of us. As much as we always want Cooper out there, because he is one of the best to do it, it’s been good that those other guys got to get a rapport with (QB) Matthew (Stafford) and that won’t stop. So there’s been some really good competition. It will be really fun to see how this thing shakes out, particularly when we get into the preseason. It always works itself out, but there is good competition.”

At the moment, it appears that Puka Nacua, Tutu Atwell, Ben Skowronek, and Demarcus Robinson are competing for the No. 3 spot on the depth chart. And then you have Tyler Johnson, Lance McCutcheon, Austin Trammell, Xavier Smith, Braxton Burmeister, and Tyler Hudson competing for a spot on the roster.

With Kupp coming off a season-ending ankle ailment from last season, the Rams have gradually brought him along this offseason, which allowed the other wide receivers to get reps with Matthew Stafford. Having Stafford available for OTAs and training camp has been a positive for the Rams as he’s been able to work with all of the wideouts on the roster after being limited last offseason.

Nacua has been a popular name in training camp already and Robinson has made some impressive catches to garner the attention of the coaching staff. While it remains to be seen who emerges behind Kupp and Jefferson, LaFleur is ecstatic to see all of the wideouts get opportunities leading into the preseason.

Fantasy football: Los Angeles Rams wide receiver preview

Examining Cooper Kupp and beyond through the lens of fake football.

After finishing fifth in the NFL in passing in 2021, the Los Angeles Rams tumbled all the way to 27th a year ago, averaging just 182.8 yards per game through the air. In addition, only two teams threw fewer touchdown passes (16), and just two clubs surrendered more sacks (59). Injuries were a big factor to be sure as stars quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Cooper Kupp played nine games apiece, while others that were penciled in as key contributors — such as WRs Allen Robinson (now with the Pittsburgh Steelers) and Van Jefferson — missed significant time as well.

The question for 2023 is how will things be different? And, will anyone, other than Kupp, hold value among the Rams receivers?

Rams’ 23 most important players for 2023 – No. 21: WR Ben Skowronek

Ben Skowronek will once again compete to be the Rams’ No. 3 receiver, but he can contribute in several other ways

Ben Skowronek is entering his third season in the NFL and despite being somewhat of an afterthought as a former seventh-round pick, he’s made 12 starts already and has 509 yards receiving in his career.

Going into the 2023 season, Skowronek will have another chance to be the Rams’ No. 3 receiver. Los Angeles has a lot of competition for that position, even after trading away Allen Robinson, but Skowronek is a favorite of Sean McVay and does the little things to earn playing time.

Skowronek should not only make the 53-man roster again, but if he emerges as the third receiver, he’ll be one of their 23 most important players this season.