With rosters across the NFL needing to be cut from 90 to 75 players by 4pm on Monday, the St. Louis Rams made a move that few expected to see. Just when you thought the Rams were starting to get used to former number two overall pick Jason Smith on the right side of the offensive line, the team pulls the rug out from under the entire experiment. The blockbuster deal in the NFL since camps opened up has to be this trade between the Rams and the New York Jets sending Smith to New York for tackle Wayne Hunter.
Clearly Hunter isn’t the only compensation for a player that was taken so high in the draft just a few years ago. The draft picks included in this deal have yet to be disclosed, but the Rams figure to add significantly to their already substantial stockpile of picks over the coming years. Rebuilding this franchise into a solid organization is a real possibility if the draft process is handled properly.
On the other side of the roster consolidation are the cuts and the Rams waived some significant names. Among those was wide receiver Danario Alexander, an undrafted player out of Missouri who has real explosive potential, but was never able to stay healthy in St. Louis. In addition to him in no particular order were:
K Garrett Lindholm (undrafted rookie, Tarleton State)
LB Noah Keller (undrafted rookie, Ohio)
DL John Gill (2nd year, undrafted, Northwestern )
RB Nicholas Schweiger (undrafted rookie, Dartmouth)
FB Todd Anderson (undrafted rookie from Michigan State)
WR Charles Gilbert (Concordia-St. Paul)
WR Brandyn Harvey (2nd year, undrafted, Villanova)
OL Kevin Hughes (2nd year, undrafted, Southeast Louisiana)
LB Alex Hoffman-Ellis (undrafted rookie, Washington State)
RB Calvin Middleton (undrafted rookie, Jacksonville State)
LS Travis Tripucka (undrafted rookie, UMass)
TE Brody Eldridge (3rd year, fifth-round Indianapolis Colts pick in 2010 draft, Oklahoma)
OL Ryan McKee (2nd year, undrafted, Southern Miss)
There will still need to be plenty of moves made by Friday when the league’s deadline to trim the roster to 53 hits. The St Louis Rams could be active moving some more players and making room to add any potential cuts from elsewhere that they could use on their roster this season.
Follow Anthony Blake on Twitter @AnthonyMBlake or on Facebook at Anthony Mizarkus Blake
Buy St. Louis Rams Tickets | Buy St. Louis Rams Apparel[...] St. Louis Rams Trade OT Jason Smith, Make Cuts To Trim Roster To 75 With rosters across the NFL needing to be cut from 90 to 75 players by 4pm on Monday, the St. Louis Rams made a move that few expected to see. Just when you thought the Rams were starting to get used to former number two overall pick Jason Smith on … Read more on Rant Sports [...]
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