The Los Angeles Rams announced on Tuesday that they have waived kicker Tanner Brown. The Rams signed Brown to a reserve/future contract back in January and had him enter a training camp competition with sixth-round pick Joshua Karty.
Karty is now the lone kicker on the roster after the Brown waiver, signaling that he has won the job.
Brown went undrafted from Oklahoma State in the 2023 NFL Draft. He spent the entirety of his rookie campaign on the Rams practice squad but never got the chance to play over kickers like Lucas Havrisik and Brett Maher.
In 2021 and 2022, Brown hit 88.6 percent of his FG tries.
Karty, meanwhile, had an incredible career at Stanford University. He earned a pair of first-team All American nods while converting 85 percent of his field goal attempts and 98.6 percent of his extra point tries.
Karty was the first kicker off the board — and one of only two overall alongside Cam Little — during the 2024 draft. It’s rare to see a kicker be drafted, but the Rams clearly felt confident in what they saw from him at Stanford.
The rookie had an especially strong showing during the Rams’ preseason opener. Karty connected on both of his field goal attempts plus the game-winning extra point. Given the playing time that he received over Brown, it was always more likely that Karty would win the position and Brown would be waived.
The Rams are hopeful that Karty can break them out of the kicker slump they’ve had in recent years.
Sean McVay evaluates Stetson Bennett in Rams preseason opener
The Rams got off to a good start to preseason, beating the Dallas Cowboys 13-12. Head coach Sean McVay sat the regulars, but did get a good look at backup quarterback Stetson Bennett.
Bennett missed the entirety of his rookie season but got plenty of reps against the Cowboys. Bennett was able to lead the Rams to victory, though McVay broke down the four interceptions he threw and how he could learn from them.
McVay did give Bennett credit for being able to sustain drives and put the Rams in positions to score. “I think it was just that. He orchestrated long drives and part of it was getting us in and out of the right calls.”
Overall, it was a solid showing from Bennett who is in line for more work during the preseason with the Rams, as McVay has already stated with Matthew Stafford and Jimmy Garoppolo staying on the sidelines.
