Are Austin Pettis' days with the Rams numbered?

The Rams had to make some difficult decisions to reach the 53-man roster limit this past weekend. After the 4'th game of the regular season, the Rams will have another big decision to make: WR Stedman Bailey - currently on the reserve/suspended list - will return to the 53-man roster. Who will he replace?

The initial 53-man roster included 5 tight ends. Many presumed Justice Cunningham would be released upon Bailey's return. That potential scenario evaporated in the past two days, due to a trio of transactions occurring:

1. QB Case Keenum was signed and added to the 53-man roster on Monday.
2. To make room on the roster for Keenum, Cunningham was placed on Injured Reserve.
3. On Tuesday, Cunningham was removed from Injured Reserve and given an injury settlement.

The accompanying chart presents the Rams' current roster and depth chart. It's updated to reflect all transactions as of 11.00 pm, Wednesday, and the "unofficial" depth chart released by the Rams :

C	Scott Wells	Tim Barnes	Barrett Jones
RG	Davin Joseph
LG	Rodger Saffold	Greg Robinson
RT	Joe Barksdale
LT	Jake Long	Mike Person
TE	Lance Kendricks	Cory Harkey
TE	Jared Cook	Alex Bayer
WR	Tavon Austin	Austin Pettis	Chris Givens
WR	Kenny Britt	Brian Quick
RB	Benny Cunningham	Chase Reynolds	Trey Watts
RB	Zac Stacy	Tre Mason
QB	Shaun Hill	Austin Davis	Case Keenum
PK	Greg Zuerlein
P	John Hekker
LS	Jake McQuaide
DT	Kendall Langford	Aaron Donald
DT	Michael Brockers	Alex Carrington
DE	Chris Long	Eugene Sims
DE	Robert Quinn	William Hayes	Ethan Westbrooks
MLB	James Laurinaitis
OLB	Alec Ogletree	Daren Bates
OLB	Jo-Lonn Dunbar	Ray Ray Armstrong
CB	Janoris Jenkins	Brandon McGee
CB	Trumaine Johnson	E.J. Gaines	Marcus Roberson
FS	Rodney McLeod	Cody Davis	Lamarcus Joyner
SS	T.J. McDonald	Maurice Alexander
	Practice Squad	Reserve/Suspended	Injured Reserve
	OT Sean Hooey	WR Stedman Bailey	TE Mason Brodine
	OL Brandon Washington		RB Isaiah Pead
	DT Matt Conrath		QB Sam Bradford
	WR Justin Veltung		OC Demetrius Rhaney
	LB Kevin Reddick
	TE Brad Smelley
	QB Garrett Gilbert
	FS Christian Bryant
	WR Emory Blake
	LB Denicos Allen

To accommodate Bailey's return, a player will likely be released from one of the following units: cornerback, wide receiver, tight end, or running back. Injuries and other roster moves in the interim could affect the decision, as could delays in Trumaine Johnson's and Barrett Jones' return from injuries. Most likely, the decision on who to release will boil down to one of the following players: Alex Bayer, Marcus Roberson, Brandon McGee, Trey Watts, Chase Reynolds, or Austin Pettis.

A strong case can be made for keeping - or releasing - any one of the above-mentioned players. If the Rams do in fact release one of them, should it be Austin Pettis?

• Pettis is in the last year of his rookie contract, and becomes a free agent after this season.
• As a wide receiver, he's pretty much reached his ceiling. When Bailey returns, Pettis will likely be no higher than No. 5 on the depth chart.
• The Rams have very little available salary cap space, and figure to be tight against the cap for most of this season. Of the 6 players mentioned, Pettis' release would easily free up the most cap space (slightly over $1 million gross).
• The Rams only kept 5 WR's on their roster last season. If they retain Pettis - when Bailey returns - the Rams would have 6 WR's on the roster.
• It was surprising to see the Rams add 2 wide receivers to the practice squad: Emory Blake and Justin Veltung. Were they anticipating the need for additional depth at the position?
• The Rams carried 4 TE's and 5 RB's on the roster last year. They're likely to do the same this season. When Trumaine Johnson returns to a starting role, the Rams will be carrying 10 DB's on the active roster. It would appear Roberson and McGee are the only other likely candidates for release (aside from Pettis).

The Rams have the first four games of the regular season to sort out a roster decision based on the return of Stedman Bailey. The decision will not be an easy one. Especially with so much young talent permeating the roster. That's a good problem to have.