St. Louis Rams Release Mason Brodine

After adding wide receiver Daniel Rodriguez and long snapper Tyler Ott to their offseason roster following successful tryouts at last week’s rookie minicamp, the St. Louis Rams’ roster was maxed out at 90 players, providing them with little wiggle room if they wanted to add a veteran free agent. They cleared some space on Wednesday afternoon by releasing Mason Brodine, who has contributed all over the field for nearly the entirety of the Jeff Fisher era in St. Louis.

Brodine’s biggest asset with the Rams was always his freakish athleticism and size, at 6-foot-7 and hovering around 280 pounds for most of his tenure in St. Louis. After spending the 2011 season and much of 2012 training camp with the Oakland Raiders, Brodine was claimed off waivers by the Rams on August 28, 2012. A defensive end in Oakland, Brodine began to see more time at defensive tackle as he bulked up on the Rams’ practice squad during the 2012 season.

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He saw action almost exclusively at defensive tackle during training camp of the 2013 season and really flashed some ability as an interior pass rusher. He was one of the Rams’ final cuts as they trimmed the roster to 53 players, and he spent another year on the practice squad.

The Rams largely rebuilt their defensive tackle corps last offseason, and Brodine was adversely affected as the Rams drafted Aaron Donald and signed free agent Alex Carrington. In order to give him the best chance of making the roster, the Rams started working Brodine at tight end, though he also continued to practice on a limited basis with the defensive linemen.

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He looked to be the favorite to win a job as the Rams’ fourth tight end during training camp, especially since he had the potential to be an impact special-teamer, but in a highly unfortunate turn of events, he fractured his ankle in the preseason opener against the New Orleans Saints. The injury knocked him out for the remainder of the season, and during that time undrafted rookie Alex Bayer and second-year player Justice Cunningham both earned spots on the 53-man roster.

The Rams now have a roster spot open should they want to bring back last year’s starting right tackle, Joe Barksdale, who is still being talked about as a possibility despite the fact that the Rams selected four offensive linemen in last month’s draft.

Next: Rams Officially Sign Purple Heart Recipient Daniel Rodriguez