Los Angeles Rams update new uniform date and most exciting players include RB Cam Akers and WR DeSean Jackson

Host Sosa Kremenjas is joined by former host Brad Mader on this episode of the Locked On Rams podcast. In this episode, Sosa and Brad discuss the player they’re the most excited to watch for the Los Angeles Rams in the 2021 NFL Season, and their choices included WR DeSean Jackson and RB Cam Akers. They also discussed the Rams’ Week 2 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts and the Rams’ new schedule release date and potential uniform combination.

This is stuff that teams have to account for each year.
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1. The roster goes from 51 back to 53. That adds at 2 at least minimum wage salaries to your Salary Cap. $660,000 in 2021 x 2 = $1.32 million.
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2. The yearly cost of a practice squad. At least $9200/week minimum for 12 players this year, for I think it is 17 weeks. That gives you a minimum of about
$2 million (1,876,800)
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3. The cost of your IR list. Every time you add a player, you will need to replace him with another player costing at least the minimum wage. Any thing between $5-$7 million is a low cost for this. imo
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I would figure a total of $11 million every year to just do business.
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The Rams have about $7 or $8 million dollars of Cap Space.

Los Angeles Rams secondary ranking by PFF, TE Jacob Harris standing out at OTA’s, and RB Cam Akers fantasy football output

Host Sosa Kremenjas brings you three interesting topics covering the Los Angeles Rams in this episode of the Locked On Rams podcast. In this episode, Sosa analyzes another positional breakdown from PFF that ranks the Rams’ secondary as the ninth-best in the NFL, highlighting the losses of S John Johnson III and CB Troy Hill as potential concerns, but also highlighting CB’s Jalen Ramsey and Darious Williams as bright spots. Sosa also dives into news out of OTA’s that suggests fourth-round rookie TE Jacob Harris is performing well and catching eyes and breaking down RB Cam Akers’ fantasy outlook for the 2021 NFL Season.

Los Angeles Rams offensive and defensive line rankings according to PFF and comparing Jeff Fisher with Sean McVay

Host Sosa Kremenjas shares another episode of the Locked On Rams podcast, covering two recent articles at PFF that ranked every offensive and defensive line in the league and ranking the Los Angeles Rams inside the top-10 on both sides of the trenches. Sosa also compares former Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher to current Head Coach Sean McVay, breaking down the legitimate differences between a league-average and an elite head coach.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/nfl-practice-squad-salaries-minimum-salary-rules-more-to-know-for-2020/ar-BB18JlpF

NFL practice squad salaries: Minimum salary, rules & more to know for 2020
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In March, a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the NFL and the NFL Players Association established a new salary structure for practice squad players. The new CBA also brought an update to the number of players who can be signed to NFL practice squads among other rule changes.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic changed even more about how NFL practice squads are constructed in 2020.

MORE: How NFL roster cuts work in 2020

The minimum salary for NFL practice squad players in 2020 technically is the same as it would have been before the new CBA was ratified. But now NFL practice squad players are split into two groups in terms of how much they are paid so veterans can earn more money.

The pandemic has not impacted the pay scale for NFL practice squad players, but it has changed the amount of players teams can sign to their practice squads. The cancellation of NFL preseason games — and the threat of the virus causing unexpected inactives during the regular season — has made practice squad construction much more important for teams in 2020.

Below is everything to know about NFL practice squads in 2020, including how much practice squad players make and the rules for NFL teams to manage their practice squad rosters.
Contents:

How much do NFL practice squad players make?
NFL practice squad rules

How much do NFL practice squad players make?

As laid out in the new CBA, there are two salary scales for practice squad players, one for players with two or fewer accrued seasons (the majority of practice squad players) and one for everybody else.

The first group of practice squad players — rookies, players with fewer than nine regular-season games during their only accrued season(s) and players who have earned no more than two accrued seasons — are paid on a fixed weekly salary that increases in each year of the current CBA.

Below are the fixed weekly salaries for most NFL practice squad players.

The second group basically consists of veterans; the NFL defines them as players with no limitations as to their number of earned accrued seasons. Teams in 2020 are allowed to keep up to six of these players on their 16-man practice squads.

These practice squad players receive a fixed weekly salary within the following minimum and maximum amounts over the duration of the current CBA.

Practice squad player contracts do not provide for salary guarantees, bonuses, incentives or any compensation beyond the amounts above.

If a practice squad player is promoted to the active roster for a game, his weekly salary will be adjusted to 1/17 of the minimum annual salary for players with his number of accrued seasons.

Most NFL practice squad players are given help to find living situations, but not money. Per the CBA, if a team signs a player to its practice squad and he does not already live in the area, the team “shall make best efforts to provide the player an option for short-term, month-to-month housing at the player’s expense.”
NFL practice squad rules

The CBA that the NFL and the NFL Players Association agreed upon in the spring increased the size of practice squad rosters from 10 players to 12 players for 2020. (It will increase again to 14 in 2022). That was before the COVID-19 outbreak reached the United States and started impacting sports operations.

Because positive coronavirus test results among NFL players are all but inevitable, it’s reasonable to anticipate more players missing games than usual in 2020. So the league agreed to expand practice squad rosters to 16 players, including six veterans (unlimited number of accrued seasons) rather than two, for this season.

Below are the players who are eligible to be added to practice squad rosters:

Players who do not have an accrued season of NFL experience (rookies)
Players who were on the active list for fewer than nine regular-season games during their only accrued season(s)
Up to four players per team who have earned no more than two accrued seasons (no game limitations)
Up to two (six in 2020) players per team with no limitations as to their number of earned accrued seasons

A player on a practice squad is free to sign with another team at any point, but a team that signs a player from another’s practice squad must add the player to its 53-man roster. There are no practice squad-to-practice squad transactions.

While that’s still the rule in 2020, during the pandemic, teams are allowed to protect up to four practice squad players each week from other teams.

Another new, pre-pandemic rule for 2020 as laid out by the CBA: Teams are allowed to promote one or two players from their practice squads to increase their rosters from 53 players to 55 players on game days. Any practice squad player promoted in such a way would revert to the practice squad roster after the game.

Previously, any practice squad player elevated to the active roster had to have his practice squad contract terminated and replaced by an NFL player contract. That’s still the case for any player promoted from the practice squad to the active roster on a permanent basis.

The NFL also established new practice squad rules that account for potential COVID-19 outbreaks on active rosters. If a practice squad player is elevated to the active roster because his team was given roster exemptions “due to confirmed or suspected cases of a contagious disease among its players,” then the player won’t be required to sign an active player contract. He will automatically revert to the practice squad after the game without going through waivers.

Note: The official language for all NFL practice squad rules, including a complete salary breakdown, can be found in Article 33 of the CBA.

NFL practice squad explained: Salary and practice squad rules

NFL practice squad explained: Salary and practice squad rules
May 7, 2021 Andrew Pistone NFL, NFL Explained 1

In most cases, transactions involving players on an NFL practice squad are often footnotes. They usually involve players being called up from the practice squad the evening before a game in case a position group is woefully thin due to injury.

Practice squad salaries are predictably much less than players who earn much more on the big club, but players can be important during the week to simulate opposing team’s game plans. Let’s take a closer look at NFL practice squads and how they operate.
How does the NFL practice squad work?

The practice squad is a group that is separate and distinct from the active roster on each NFL game day. The number of players allowed on an NFL practice squad has been a shifting number since the pandemic began. The league allowed as many as 16 players on a practice squad in 2020, and that number could remain the same in 2021 if virus related regulations regarding positive tests and close contacts are kept. Without COVID protocols, the limit of practice squad players is supposed to be set at 12 for the upcoming season.

Additionally, practice squad players are generally only supposed to be young guys who teams are trying to develop. Baked into the larger maximum set at 12 for regular NFL seasons, teams are only allowed to have 2 players with an unlimited amount of NFL experience. All other players on the practice squad need to have less than 2 seasons of accrued NFL tenure. As such, teams cannot sign an unlimited number of veteran players to their practice squad to gain a competitive advantage.
Do practice squad players travel with the team?

NFL practice squad players are not allowed to travel with their team to road games. Even though they put in the same work during the week as players on the active roster (and sometimes more), they’ll watch road games from the same places many fans would; the comfort of their couches at home.

When the team is playing a home game, practice squad players are allowed into the stadium, but they cannot be present on the sidelines. They are required to watch games from the locker room, or the stands.

Probably the most high profile practice squad call up was Kendall Hinton being promoted to the active roster for the Denver Broncos. By trade, Hinton was a wide receiver for Denver, but some special circumstances arose ahead of the team’s Week 12 game against the New Orleans Saints. All three of the Broncos’ quarterbacks were deemed ineligible for the game due to testing positive for COVID or being a close contact.

As such, the team needed to get creative to find their starting quarterback for that game. Hinton played quarterback during his college days at Wake Forest, and this was enough of a resume for him to get the fill-in nod for that contest.

How much do practice squad players earn?

Players on an NFL practice squad earn a minimum of $8,400 for each week of the NFL season. However, they are not signed to guaranteed contracts, and are not guaranteed future weekly salary if they are cut from the team. For example, if running back Joe Smith is on the practice squad for the Las Vegas Raiders for the first three weeks of the NFL season, he’ll make a minimum of $25,200. However, if he’s cut by the subsequent Tuesday before Week 4, he’s not due any additional money. If Smith is not able to sign with the practice squad of another team, or on a 53 man roster throughout the league, that would be the entirety of what he earns that year in the NFL.

However, the $8,400 compensation per week is the minimum, meaning that teams can pay a player more at their discretion. Sometimes a franchise will fork over more than the minimum if they really value a player’s contribution or see something positive in his development.

Even though players are on the practice squad for one team, they can be signed away to another team’s active roster at any time. That’s definitely the goal for every practice squad player, since it is tough to live week to week without any guarantees about what the future might hold from an earnings perspective.

For more on the intricate workings of the NFL, check out our NFL explained section.

Los Angeles Rams positional battles at OTA’s, safety rotation, and plans for CB Jalen Ramsey with The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue

Host Sosa Kremenjas is joined by The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue on this episode of the Locked On Rams podcast. Sosa and Jourdan delve into the starting five offensive lineman for the Los Angeles Rams throughout OTA’s, the backup center spot battle between Coleman Shelton and Brian Allen, who might step up at the nickel cornerback position between David Long Jr. and Dont’e Deayon, and potential plans for CB Jalen Ramsey to continue to move around in the secondary.

Los Angeles Rams PFF rankings leave RB Cam Akers outside of the top-32 and team outlook

Host Sosa Kremenjas breaks down some Pro Football Focus rankings on RB Cam Akers, WR’s Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods, LT Andrew Whitworth, CB’s Jalen Ramsey and Darious Williams, and EDGE rusher Leonard Floyd. Sosa analyzes their rankings and agrees and disagrees with some of the rankings on this episode of the Locked On Rams podcast. Lastly, Head Coach Sean McVay and the Rams as a whole are praised for their sustained success.

Los Angeles Rams most important sophomore players, Darious Williams contract, team MVP for 2021

Host Sosa Kremenjas brings you another Mailbag Friday episode of the Locked On Rams podcast, covering the Los Angeles Rams. Sosa namedrops LT Andrew Whitworth as the team’s potential MVP in the 2021 NFL Season, answers questions surrounding CB Darious Williams’ next contract, who the most important second-year player is (EDGE Terrell Lewis), and how Head Coach Sean McVay’s new relationship with his new quarterback in Matthew Stafford will differ from prior seasons.

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