James Laurinaitis has never missed a game and rarely even missed a snap since the Rams drafted him in 2009, and so when he found out Friday he was cut, he was shocked.
“I didn’t see this one coming,” Laurinaitis told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which is still covering the Rams even though they’re not in St. Louis anymore.
Laurinaitis said the Rams had asked him to be part of their marketing efforts in Los Angeles, and he agreed, so he assumed that meant he was in the team’s plans for this year.
“So I was like, if they’re gonna call and ask me to do that, I must be all right,” Laurinaitis said. “I thought maybe at worst, a pay cut. I still felt like I was producing.”
Laurinaitis was working out at the Rams’ facilities on Friday when he was told to report to coach Jeff Fisher’s office.
“He said it was one of the toughest [cuts] he’s had to do in his career — up there with [Steve] McNair and [Eddie] George,” Laurinaitis said.
The 29-year-old Laurinaitis still thinks he has a few good seasons left in him, but those seasons will not be played in Los Angeles.