Rams waive Harrison Mevis, plan to sign Blake Grupe
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. The Los Angeles Rams waived kicker Harrison Mevis on Tuesday and plan to sign Blake Grupe, head coach Sean McVay confirmed in a video conference with reporters. The roster move came less than 24 hours after McVay said he would evaluate everything following the Rams’ Monday night loss. The team intends to add Grupe from the New York Jets’ practice squad as Mevis’ replacement.
McVay said he appreciated Mevis’s contributions and acknowledged Mevis was a steady presence last season, but added the team needed better production from the kicking unit. He said postgame that the kicking game, particularly PATs and field goals, was “not even close to good enough” and that it cost the team in Monday’s loss. McVay later clarified the kicking game was not the sole reason the Rams lost and said, “I probably should have articulated it better.”
Mevis joined the Rams midway through the 2025 season as the replacement for Joshua Karty and the club tendered him as an exclusive rights free agent for 2026. In 9 regular-season games after his arrival he made 12 of 13 field-goal attempts and all 39 extra-point attempts. He was 6 of 6 on field goals with nine extra points in 3 playoff games, including a divisional-round game-winner against the Bears.
This season Mevis made all 14 of his extra-point attempts through the first five games but converted only 5 of 9 field-goal attempts, with four misses coming from beyond 40 yards. Two of those misses occurred in Monday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills, including a missed 50-yarder in the first quarter and a 48-yard attempt that was blocked. The misses, McVay said, showed a vulnerability the club needed to address.
Grupe entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent signed by the New Orleans Saints in 2023 and spent two-and-a-half seasons in New Orleans, making 75 of 94 field-goal attempts in 45 games before his release late last season. He signed with the Indianapolis Professional Football Team and finished that season 11 of 11 on field-goal attempts in five games, with five of those makes from 40 or more yards. McVay said Grupe brings experience in high-pressure situations and that the staff viewed him as the best available option; Grupe and special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone spent time with the Indianapolis Professional Football Team, but their tenures did not overlap.
NFL Sports Blog Take
The Rams made an immediate, targeted change to address long-range field-goal production. Mevis produced strong overall numbers after joining the team in 2025 and in the postseason, but four misses from beyond 40 yards this season, including two in a critical game, created enough concern to prompt the move. Grupe’s small-sample perfection with the Indianapolis Professional Football Team and his history of success from 40-plus yards present a logical basis for the switch. Familiarity between Grupe and Ventrone, even without overlapping tenures, could help him settle in quickly and provide more consistent long-range kicking on game day.