Los Angeles Rams News & Rumors

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC West

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These 49ersCardinalsRams and Seahawks moves are noted below.

Arizona Cardinals

Signed to practice squad:

Los Angeles Rams

Signed to practice squad:

San Francisco 49ers

Signed: 

Claimed:

Released from IR (via settlement):

Signed to practice squad:

Seattle Seahawks

Signed:

Claimed:

Released:

Signed to practice squad:

Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC East

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These BillsDolphinsJets and Patriots moves are noted below.

Buffalo Bills

Signed to practice squad:

Released from IR via injury settlement:

Miami Dolphins

Waived:

  • S Jordan Colbert

Signed to practice squad:

New England Patriots

Claimed:

Waived: 

Signed to practice squad:

New York Jets

Claimed:

Released:

Signed to practice squad:

2025 NFL Waiver Order

Many of the players cut Tuesday were subject to waivers, giving teams a chance to pick them up (along with the rest of their contract). Teams can claim as many players as they want before the next team gets their remaining targets.

It’s also worth noting that relatively few players are claimed off waivers during final roster cuts each year. Waiver claims will be processed at 11am CT in the following order (via NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo). In reverse order of the 2024 NFL standings, here is how the waiver priority sits:

  1. Titans
  2. Browns
  3. Giants
  4. Patriots
  5. Jaguars
  6. Raiders
  7. Jets
  8. Panthers
  9. Saints
  10. Bears
  11. 49ers
  12. Cowboys
  13. Dolphins
  14. Colts
  15. Falcons
  16. Cardinals
  17. Bengals
  18. Seahawks
  19. Buccaneers
  20. Broncos
  21. Steelers
  22. Chargers
  23. Packers
  24. Vikings
  25. Texans
  26. Rams
  27. Ravens
  28. Lions
  29. Commanders
  30. Bills
  31. Chiefs
  32. Eagles

Rams Cut Derion Kendrick, Move To 53

Here is how the Rams trimmed their roster to 53 by today’s deadline:

Released:

Waived/injured:

Waived:

Previously a Kyren Williams backup, Rivers had been on the Rams’ 53-man roster throughout last season, playing in all 17 games for the team. But the team drafted Jarquez Hunter in the fourth round this year. Hunter joins Williams and 2024 third-round pick Blake Corum in a three-man backfield currently.

Kendrick started 18 games between 2022 and ’23, re-signing with the Rams in June. In between, however, the young cornerback suffered an ACL tear that sidetracked his career. Kendrick went down in July 2024. The Rams already waived Kendrick and then re-signed him, making it possible they will opt to continue this relationship via a practice squad offer. Sixteen players comprise modern NFL P-squads, but Kendrick being cut is certainly step back for a player who saw a 76% defensive snap rate during his most recent healthy season.

Rams To Trade T KT Leveston To Browns

Tuesday’s first NFL trade will see offensive line depth change hands. The Rams are sending tackle KT Leveston to the Browns for a 2028 seventh-round pick, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Dealing away selections three years into the future is certainly rare in the NFL, especially in the case of a low-level trade such as this one. Cleveland has restocked on draft capital this offseason, though, with the move down the first-rounder order yielding an additional first from the Jaguars in 2026. Yesterday’s Kenny Pickett swap also added to the team’s collection for next spring.

Leveston entered the NFL as a seventh-round pick of the Rams last season. He did not see any regular season game action as a rookie while dealing with an injury. Los Angeles opened his practice window in November, but one month later he reverted to injured reserve without being activated. Now healthy, the 25-year-old will aim to provide Cleveland with depth up front.

The Browns’ offensive tackle position has been in flux this offseason, with Jedrick Wills no longer in the fold. The former first-rounder is set to miss most or all of the coming season while recovering from a knee injury. Jack Conklin is still in place for Cleveland, a team which added Cornelius Lucas in free agency. The likes of Germain Ifedi, Geron Christian and Hakeem Adeniji departed this spring, however, so Leveston will look to compensate (in part) for their absences.

The Rams will create $840K in cap space with this move, while the Browns will take on the remaining three years of Leveston’s rookie contract. The Kansas State product managing to carve out a swing tackle role or another backup gig along the offensive line could allow for him to have an extended stay in Cleveland.

Rams Start Roster Trimming With 11 Players

The Rams got started on working down their roster to the eventual 53 players they’ll open up the season with today. In doing so, they released one veteran and waived 10 other players:

Released:

Waived:

Fields fell in an out of favor over the course of his rookie contract in Cleveland, starting 10 games between his second and third year with the team before getting waived after an ankle injury in Week 1 of last year. He signed a practice squad deal with Los Angeles with hopes of making an impact once healthy. Unfortunately, his opportunity with the Rams won’t be on the 53-man roster, though he may agree to sign back on to the team’s practice squad, since he doesn’t have to go through waivers.

This was Winn’s third stint in Los Angeles, with short stays in the CFL and UFL bridging the other two stints. He has enough familiarity with the team that he may be a name they bring back to the practice squad. No other names here draw much surprise as five of those waived were undrafted rookies.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/21/25

Here are Thursday’s minor moves:

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

  • Released from IR via injury settlement: CB Bruce Harmon

Green Bay Packers

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

Out for most of the Panthers’ preseason workouts due to offseason back surgery, Tremble can begin ramping up in earnest for Week 1. A debut on time will be the goal, Dave Canales said Thursday. Tremble re-signed with Carolina on a two-year, $10.5MM deal this offseason.

Brown joined the 49ers after starting 10 Seahawks games from 2023-24. The team had aimed for the former fourth-round pick to play a backup role this season, but he instead has become the corresponding move following the Skyy Moore trade. The team has ex-Colts starter Dallis Flowers and preseason standout Chase Lucas as options, while veteran Fabian Moreau is in the mix as well.

Harris joins the Commanders after starting six Browns games from 2020-24. Harris had signed with the Seahawks last year, before being traded back to Cleveland ahead of Week 1. He ended up on the Browns’ IR list by October. Harris, 26, worked out for the Saints earlier this month. Watson suffered a biceps tear, according to cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot. The Browns drafted Watson in the 2024 sixth round; he played 14 games and made one start as a rookie.

Rams’ Matthew Stafford Returns To Practice

August 21: McVay confirmed on Thursday (via Barshop) that Stafford was a full participant all week without restrictions. Stafford himself said that he’s taking a “day-to-day approach” to his back injury, which he characterized as “something that crept up on me a little bit.” The veteran quarterback will not travel with the Rams to Cleveland for their preseason finale on Saturday.

August 18: Following his second individual throwing session, Matthew Stafford has managed to suit up for practice. The Rams’ starting quarterback participated in his first training camp workout on Monday.

Last week had been targeted as return date in Stafford’s case. Exercising an abundance of caution, the Rams instead elected to keep him on the sidelines. The 37-year-old was a participant today as planned, though, with ESPN’s Sarah Barshop noting he took part in team drills.

“It was good to be able to have Matthew out there. He did a good job today,” head coach Sean McVay said when speaking to the media after practice (video link). “I think there was a lot of intended information, but there’s no updates. We’re going to keep it a day, and really, a week at a time. But it’s great to be able to see him out there today, and we’ll see how this afternoon goes and tomorrow.”

McVay noted there is no firm timeline in place with respect to how the rest of the week will play out regarding Stafford’s practice participation. He also cautioned (via Gary Klein of the L.A. Times) that today’s encouraging development does not ensure at this point Stafford will be available for Week 1. The Rams have maintained his fifth Los Angles season is expected to begin on time, but a lingering back issue has proven to be troublesome over the course of the summer.

Team and player agreed to another restructured contract this offseason, with the Rams guaranteeing money into 2026. As a result, Stafford’s health for the immediate future but also beyond the coming campaign is key. A separate practice schedule was designed for the former Lion given his injury, but sparse participation over the coming weeks would not amount to much in the way of first-team reps leading up to Week 1.

Veteran Jimmy Garoppolo and former fourth-rounder Stetson Bennett round out the Rams’ QB depth chart. Their practice workloads will be altered if Stafford does indeed return to action on a regular basis, but it remains to be seen if that will be the case. Nonetheless, today’s news marks an encouraging sign for all involved.

Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Rams

Pushing the eventual Super Bowl champion Eagles to the limit in the divisional round, the Rams entered the offseason in the same place they usually do — as a clear championship contender. The team needed to solve a quarterback dilemma before reloading its arsenal for a potential Super Bowl LX run, and considerable fallout emerged from the latest Matthew Stafford contract-driven saga.

While the Rams swapped out star wide receivers and made their biggest running back commitment since Todd Gurley, Stafford’s status overshadowed everything else about Los Angeles’ offseason. The team’s draft strategy opens a door to a potential succession plan, but for now, it is still Stafford-or-bust in L.A.

Extensions and restructures:

After the Rams solved their lingering 2024 Stafford issue with an incentive package and a minor guarantee bump for 2025, they received word the Super Bowl-winning passer would play a 17th NFL season. By late January, however, Stafford trade rumors began to emerge. As the Combine neared, the Rams gave Stafford — whom they acquired in a January 2021 blockbuster trade — permission to explore another relocation. That set off one of the stranger storylines involving a high-profile QB in recent memory. A host of rumors emerged about Stafford’s future, all while the Rams would have been staring at a significant downgrade at the game’s premier position if they went through with a swap.

Playing on a Lions-designed deal ($27MM per year) during the Rams’ Super Bowl-winning season, Stafford signed a four-year, $160MM extension. At the time, Stafford left money on the table to help the Rams remain a contender. The team then rewarded Super Bowl heroes Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp later in 2022. Stafford, however, regretted this decision and pushed for better terms in 2024 and ’25.

The Rams gave him a $5MM 2024 raise by moving money up from future years and then added a $4MM 2025 roster bonus. Stafford submitted a second straight strong season — after 2023 trade rumors swirled following an injury-plagued 2022 — and found teams willing to pay up, increasing urgency on the Rams’ end.

Several teams, including the Steelers, contacted the Rams on Stafford. While Pittsburgh preferred Stafford to Aaron Rodgers, two teams emerged as the true Stafford suitors. The Giants and Raiders worked out contract parameters, with each team ready to authorize guarantee packages in the $90-$100MM range. As he did in the Raiders’ Ben Johnson pursuit, Tom Brady played a lead role and spoke with Stafford at a Montana ski resort. The Giants were linked to a potential $55MM-per-year offer, after a Stafford request of at least $50MM AAV had emerged.

The Rams sought a first-round pick, but neither of the primary suitors was willing to deal a top-six selection — as both held such draft real estate. L.A. was not willing to meet Stafford’s $50MM-AAV ask, but the team had infrastructure advantages on both suitors. Coming off last-place divisional finishes, neither the Giants nor Raiders profile as a 2025 contender. With Stafford now 37, it would have been more of a pure financial play to bail on the Rams for one of those situations.

With Stafford lacking a no-trade clause, the Rams also held the hammer here. Sean McVay represented a draw as well, and the ninth-year Rams HC remained in contact with Stafford throughout the process. In the end, a predictable conclusion emerged. Stafford did not take a late-career risk of joining teams much farther away from the Super Bowl-contending level, and the Rams fully guaranteed his 2025 salary while dangling a guarantee carrot for 2026. Though, Stafford remaining on the roster by that March 2026 vesting date suddenly looks hazier.

If Stafford remains a Ram by Day 5 of the 2026 league year, $40MM of his 2026 compensation fully guarantees. That effectively becomes a sell-by date for the Rams, whose first-round trade may change their long-term outlook at the position. Even though Stafford has secured $26MM more from the Rams than this contract initially called for, turning down better security — even though the full guarantee numbers from the Giants and Raiders never surfaced — injects some risk due to the QB’s ongoing injury trouble. But Stafford is running it back with a team he has piloted to three playoff appearances.

It would cost the Rams $41.87MM to drop Stafford before that guarantee vests, and while the latest rework did increase the punishment on the franchise were it to move on before that mid-March date, the dead money could be split over two years via a post-June 1 cut. It remains to be seen if Stafford would have realistic trade value next year, when he intends to keep playing. His latest injury battle has created short- and long-term questions.

A back injury cropped up early in training camp, keeping Stafford off the field for multiple weeks. This included missing two joint practices. A report of a disk issue soon surfaced, as Stafford received an epidural injection, and the Rams continued to push back their fifth-year QB’s return date.

As of Monday, Stafford has returned to work. But he has played through countless injuries over his career. Now in his late 30s, the one-time (non-alternate) Pro Bowler will need to be constantly monitored on the health front. The Rams’ fortunes ride on their star passer staying healthy, but without an alternative they were overly interested in (more on that below), a decision to regroup with Stafford won the day. Was it the right play?

A less complicated negotiation unfolded with Williams, who came up as an extension candidate in the spring. It took a few months, but the sides reached an agreement. The former fifth-round pick, who had pushed Cam Akers to the periphery in L.A.’s vision, became the first running back the team has committed to contractually since Todd Gurley‘s 2018 payday. The team came to regret the Gurley contract — which reset the market seven years ago — and even as the cap has exploded since, the Williams deal comes in well south of Gurley’s.

With the cap at $177.2MM in 2018 (compared to $279.2MM today), the Rams gave Gurley a four-year, $57.5MM extension that came with $21.95MM at signing. Williams has not proven to be in that class, but the Notre Dame alum has been a quality starter. Williams, 25 next week, led the NFL with 95.3 rushing yards per game in 2023 and delivered a career-high 1,299 on the ground last season. The Rams had not seen enough from Akers or Darrell Henderson to pay them between their 2020 Gurley cut and Williams’ extension eligibility, but they have reinvested in the position on a more careful contract. The team was unwilling to go toward a top-market deal here.

Les Snead approved a $15.15MM at-signing guarantee, but Williams’ camp secured additional guarantees by early 2026. Already guaranteeing $2.75MM of Williams’ $5MM 2026 base salary, the Rams will guarantee the rest on Day 3 of the 2026 league year. On Day 5, $4.61MM of Williams’ $8.95MM 2027 base salary will lock in. Barring an injury that would impede a passed physical come March, the Rams could move on for $12.58MM in dead money next year.

This contract’s fine print reveals a bit more caution on the team’s part, but if it were to consider moving on, a move would need to be made soon after free agency starts. While Williams’ camp did well to secure a rolling guarantee structure, it does not fully protect the RB from a quick release — as a post-June 1 cut would minimize the damage for the Rams, who cut Gurley less than two years after his extension.

Free agency additions:

Adams grew to loathe his first post-high school experience of catching passes from quarterbacks not named Derek Carr or Aaron Rodgers, but the California native became intrigued by a move back west after his Jets stop. The Rams convinced the decorated wide receiver to replace Cooper Kupp alongside Puka Nacua. Adams is a year older than Kupp but has been far more durable, and the Rams will at least try him out — for a hefty sum — for a season.

Although the Jets could not crawl out of their early hole upon acquiring Adams from the Raiders, the wide receiver put up impressive numbers during the 5-12 slate. Not missing any games as a Jet (after what looked like an injury exaggeration in his final Las Vegas days), Adams posted 854 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 New York games. His presence looked to have alienated Garrett Wilson, but it showed some positive Rodgers work. In 14 games last season, Adams cobbled together his sixth 1,000-yard season. Firmly on the Hall of Fame radar, Adams will attempt to contribute to a Super Bowl contender’s cause after his post-Green Bay years did not remotely involve playoff chances.

The Rams, who could not count on Kupp for the most part since a string of injuries that began midway through the 2022 season, added a receiver who has not missed more than two games in a season due to a legitimate injury since 2019. If Adams shows clear decline signs, the Rams have an early out. Adams, 32, is due a $6MM roster bonus on Day 5 of the 2026 league year. The Rams can move on via a $14MM dead money charge if they opt to cut bait before the bonus is due.

It is interesting Adams joined a team that could feature some Jimmy Garoppolo starts, seeing as the receiver criticized the then-Raiders starter — effectively getting Garoppolo benched midway through the 2023 season — as the wheels fell off for Josh McDaniels in Vegas. Garoppolo had not re-signed with the Rams when Adams committed, but the team re-upped its backup QB a day after it signed Adams.

Naturally, the Rams were also connected to Rodgers. In what would have been a third Rodgers-Adams partnership, the Rams discussed the aging great as a contingency plan in case they followed through with a Stafford trade. Rodgers, who lives in California during the offseason, was open to taking a discount to play for McVay. Stafford staying forced the four-time MVP to look elsewhere, and he ended up in Pittsburgh (on a one-year, $14.15MM deal) just before minicamp.

Shelton’s 2024 exit stung the Rams a bit more than expected. Even though the team’s two-year center starter commanded just $3MM from the Bears, the Rams cycled through a few centers last year. The sides regrouped in March, and Shelton received a significant raise. He will see half of his 2026 base salary guaranteed at signing, pointing to a true two-year commitment.

Between training camp and the divisional round, the Rams tried Steve Avila, Jonah Jackson and Beaux Limmer at center. Limmer will return to a backup role, while Avila is at his more natural guard spot — where he resettled last year after the Rams regretted their Jackson signing. Shelton, 30, is back with the team he spent five seasons with from 2019-23.

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NFL Minor Transactions: 8/20/25

Here are today’s midweek minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Reverted to IR: T Gareth Warren
  • Waived (with injury settlement): LB Devin Harper

San Francisco 49ers

Washington Commanders

Waller will now be able to officially return to the field today as he attempts to shake off a year’s worth of retirement. Head coach Mike McDaniel expects him back at practice “very soon,” potentially even this week, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

The Bears have landed the services of the veteran Freeman as they deal with absences from D’Andre Swift, Roschon Johnson, Kyle Monangai, and Travis Homer. Hankins had gotten the starting nod in the team’s last preseason game for that same reason, and he’ll now hand off that role to Freeman.

Ferguson, the Dolphins’ former long snapper of the past five years, finally gets a job after his release from Miami. The Texans were really liking what they were seeing out of undrafted rookie Austin Brinkman, but a minor, short-team injury will keep him from the team’s final preseason game, requiring at least a short stay from Ferguson.