The Los Angeles Rams have treated their special teams like an afterthought over the last two years. As a result, they had a special teams DVOA of -9.2, one of the worst grades in the history of the metric.
While some of that can be chalked up to a significant talent drop at the back half of the depth chart, the Rams have been negligent in finding a consistent and accurate kicker.
2024 Los Angeles Rams Free Agency Tracker
The 2023 Los Angeles Rams Kicker Saga
The Rams started the year off the run up to the 2023 season with undrafted free agent, Tanner Brown. He was cut before September. They brought on Kearney NE native, Brett Maher after struggling with the Cowboys during their post-season run in 2022. He went 3-5 on field goals in the Rams first game of the year. Maher was released on October 24th, two days after missing two field goals and an extra point in a seven-point loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers
They signed Lucas Havrisik off the Cleveland Browns practice squad. He played nine games for the Rams then was cut after going 4-9 on field goals beyond 40 yards and missing three extra points. He cost the Rams a possible 18 points.
They resigned Maher for Week 18. All in all, Maher missed a total of 20 possible points. 38 possible points left off the boards in a season when the Rams games were decided on average, by 1.6 points per game.
The Rams Again Have NO Kicker on the Roster
Brett Maher is a free agent and the Rams should try to find a better kicker than him as a replacement.
2 Free Agent Options Remain
While the Rams have been busy investing in their offensive line, three top 15 kickers came off the board Greg Zuerlein re-signed with the New York Jets, Chase McLaughlin re-signed with the Buccaneers and Will Lutz re-signed with the Denver Broncos.
Two kickers remain, Nick Folk and Brandon McManus. Folk topped the league in made field goal percentage, 96.7 percent. McManus was far less impressive with an 81-made field goal percentage but was still better than Maher. He also made 100 percent of his extra points.
Folk would be the more expensive option, but it is time for the Los Angeles Rams to invest in a good kicker. It will cost them around $4 million in cap space this season, but they can’t continue putting themselves in a position to lose games by trying to find stop-gap, cheap alternatives to battle-tested marksmen.
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