Rams must decide to keep Perkins or risk losing him on waivers

By Jerry Ratcliffe

The fate of Bryce Perkins’ second year in the NFL will be decided in the next couple of days when the Los Angeles Rams are forced to make a difficult decision.

Perkins, who starred at quarterback for Virginia in 2018 and 2019, is battling for one of the Rams’ 53 roster spots by the NFL deadline. LA allowed Perkins to play the entire way in its last two preseason games, losses to Las Vegas and Denver, and he performed well.

However, with roster cuts looming, Perkins knew going into Saturday night’s game against Denver that he could be put on waivers within the next 48 hours. Essentially, the game against the Broncos was an audition for the other NFL teams that could pick him up off the waiver wire if LA releases him.

Perkins won the No. 3 quarterback spot behind starter Matthew Stafford and backup John Wolford last weekend against the Raiders. LA promptly released Duck Hodges, who was competing with Perkins for that slot.

In Saturday night’s loss at Denver, Perkins completed 23 of 42 passes for 201 yards, in addition to rushing for a team-high 50 yards on nine attempts.

After the game, Rams coach Sean McVay said the decision on whether to take the risk of placing Perkins on waivers was pending. The only other option is to put the quarterback on the active roster.

“To Bryce’s credit, he’s definitely making it a very difficult decision,” McVay said.

Perkins, who has handled adversity throughout his collegiate and NFL career, is taking things in stride.

“I try to do a good job of not being too worked up, too anxious about the things that may happen in the next couple of days,” Perkins said. “Whenever you put it all on the line, you can live with any result.”

Should the Rams place Perkins on waivers, any NFL team may claim him. If he clears waivers, then LA can reclaim him and place him on its 16-member practice squad for a second year.