Season Preview Question #3 - Which Veterans Will Get Cut?

Let's keep the SBN season preview train rolling...

Which veterans could be cut before the season due to salary cap issues?

I have to take a bit of a different angle. The Rams are so incredibly young, they don't have many veterans on the roster in the first place...

As of right now, the Rams have 12 guys on the roster who have been in the NFL for more than five years. The team we just faced in the preseason, the Broncos, have 21. So do the Ravens, who we face next weekend and that's after parting with Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. The Rams only have two players in the double digit club: Will Witherspoon who's in his 12th year, and Scott Wells who's in his 10th. Denver has 8 while Baltimore has 6.

So instead of just taking this one on from a salary cap standpoint, I'm just going to offer the possible cuts among players who have been in the league at least 4 years:

Darian Stewart

Stewart's stock is understandably trending downward, so it's not out of bounds to suggest he could give way to more promising options. I'd bet he makes the team, as he's on a one-year deal and has some experience on this team that's generally worth keeping in house.

Zach Potter

His late TD from Saturday notwithstanding, Potter's in the mix with Cory Harkey and Phil Lutzenkirchen to sneak in the back of the roster. Potter's ineligible for practice squad duty though, so if the Rams want to go to Harkey as the block-first specialist or they decide they want a hybrid in Lutz, Potter could be on his way out.

Kellen Clemens

I can't think of a reason to keep Clemens around this season. Last year, his experience with Brian Schottenheimer was extremely valuable to have around. This year, I doubt Sam's struggling with the offensive terminology and scheme. Austin Davis has supplanted Clemens as the backup. He's making over $800k. He took the mini-not-controversy with Bernie Kosar and made Kosar look better for it with his play in the second preseason game. This one's good to go.

Matt Giordano

For all the talk of the safety battle going on, Giordano's been MIA. To be fair, he's seasoned to the point that the preseason isn't going to be of much value to him. But it's hard to see him making the team above guys like Matt Daniels, Rodney McLeod and Cody Davis.