The Rams Are Desperate Enough to Audition a 42-Year-Old Kicker Before Signing Brandon McManus

The Los Angeles Rams' kicker situation has officially reached the phase where they are calling guys who remember the Bush administration. Los Angeles is signing 35-year-old veteran Brandon McManus after a Tuesday tryout that also featured 42-year-old Matt Prater, according to Ian Rapoport.

Head coach Sean McVay is desperately trying to patch a leaking special teams unit after Blake Grupe went down with an injury. When your team is sitting at 2-4 and just dropped an 18-16 rock fight to the Arizona Cardinals, leaving free points on the board is no longer a viable strategy.

"Ian Rapoport reported the signing, noting it is the latest chapter in the Los Angeles kicker saga."

Bringing in Prater for a workout is objectively hilarious when you realize the kicker is four years older than the head coach evaluating him. Somewhere in a Marriott lobby, a 42-year-old man was icing his kicking leg just hoping for one last ride. Instead, the Rams went with the slightly younger model in McManus.

McManus brings a massive leg from his days with the Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers, though he has battled his own quad issues in recent years. For anyone staring at Rams point spreads or game totals, having a kicker who can actually drill a 50-yarder completely changes the math. You cannot cover a spread when your coach is terrified to send the field goal unit out past the 30-yard line.

McManus will have to get up to speed immediately to save a season that is rapidly slipping away. We will see if the veteran still has enough juice in his right leg to keep Los Angeles relevant, or if McVay will be back to scanning the retirement homes by Thanksgiving.