Rams transactions: Sam Sloman released, Kai Forbath to take over at kicker

Sam Sloman can’t be blamed for the LA Rams’ decision to let Greg Zuerlein walk in free agency and then opt to keep a three-way competition between three kickers with no NFL experience because of salary cap issues. Ridicule Sloman if you’d like, but if the Rams couldn’t even turn to one of the other two options in camp, if they were even less likely to make kicks than Sloman, then the team really did not put much value into that search.

A search that took another turn on Tuesday when Los Angeles released Sloman from the 53-man roster.

Sloman went 8 of 11 on field goal attempts and 18 of 21 on extra points, struggling with his trajectory apparently as another kick of his was blocked on Monday night against the Chicago Bears. The Rams drafted Sloman in the seventh round and kept him over Austin MacGinnis and Austin Hajrullahu, but have now opted to go with a veteran beginning next week in Miami.

Kai Forbath, signed last week, entered the NFL in 2012 with Washington. He led the league in field goal percentage that season, making 17 of 18 attempts. But Forbath was released in 2015 and he’s played for five different teams since. Last season he went 11 of 11 on field goals and 11 of 12 on extra points with the Cowboys and Patriots.