Rams' projected roster assumes luxury they may not be able to afford

Ramblin' Fan · Jul 20, 2026 13:00 · 3 min read

Rams' projected roster assumes luxury they may not be able to afford — Los Angeles Rams tight end Davis Allen. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Los Angeles Rams may not be able to accommodate all five tight ends projected to make the 53-man roster.

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay loves his tight ends more than anyone, but now he's faced with a conundrum. Having five tight ends on his projected 53-man roster might be too much of a good thing, even for him. He'll either have to find a way to find work for everyone, including rookie Max Klare, or else reduce the room from five members to four.

The Rams could still roll with five tight ends this season; it's certainly possible. All of Klare, Colby Parkinson, Tyler Higbee, Terrance Ferguson, and Davis Allen can contribute. The counter is that the roster doesn't really need the whole quintuplet.

If there is an odd man out, Allen is the obvious first man up. Not that he didn't produce last season; a strong blocker, he also set career highs with 24 catches, 208 yards, and three touchdowns.

He lacks the upside, however, of the other returning players, is on an expiring contract, and the Rams aren't about to try and stash Klare on the practice squad. Other teams would scoop him up immediately if LA left him off the 53-man roster.

Rams may not have the luxury of carrying five tight ends

Even as McVay leaned into 13-personnel sets in 2025, requiring three tight ends on the field, the Rams made do with a four-man crew - all of the above, minus Klare. That's factoring in Higbee's seven-game injury absence. It's hard to imagine five tight ends each getting enough reps to justify a roster spot in 2026, when that opening could go to a player more likely to contribute.

Where, exactly, that supposed contributor would play is a fair question. The Rams roster is stacked from nearly top to bottom. There are some chinks in the armor, though, and tight end isn't one of them.

Los Angeles may simply not have the luxury of carrying five tight ends. For one thing, tagging Stetson Bennett as QB2 would require carrying three on the roster. The Rams obviously can't afford to put Ty Simpson on the practice squad, for the same reason they can't with Klare, only even more so.

Three is one more active roster spot than they used on quarterbacks last season, when it was just Matthew Stafford and Jimmy Garoppolo.

That already makes overstocking other positions more difficult. Their depth at linebacker, cornerback, and tackle remains rather suspect. Taking a quantity-over-quality approach could be the way to go.

Rams have more than route to aroster crunch

Things will only get hairier if Aaron Donald returns to the defensive line. His unretirement would almost certainly require the subtraction of one or more of Tyler Davis, Ty Hamilton, or 2026 seventh-rounder Tim Keenan III at defensive tackle.

The Rams went with a five-man d-line rotation last season, composed of Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske at the ends and Poona Ford in the middle. With Donald, the depth chart would number seven. Decisions, decisions.

Roster math may not leave McVay much choice but to make a difficult decision among his tight ends. That doesn't have to mean parting with Allen; Parkinson would be an appealing trade target around the league. If others show up - in particular Ferguson and Klare, and assuming Higbee's good health - that could be a realistic pivot.

Trading Parkinson would not only net a bigger return than flipping or outright releasing Allen, but would sacrifice a pending free agent the Rams have little chance of retaining at season's end.