The St Louis Rams have announced that they have released defensive end Michael Sam as part of their roster cutdown ahead of the 2014 season.

Sam became the first openly gay player in the NFL when he was selected by the club in the seventh-round of the 2014 Draft in May.

However, despite a decent showing in pre-season, the 24-year-old has not made the roster in a defensive line stacked with talent, although he could yet make the practice squad.

The Rams also released Emory Blake, Travis Bond, Kourtnei Brown, Christian Bryant, Matt Conrath, Avery Cunningham, Austin Franklin, Garrett Gilbert, Deantre Harlan, Aaron Hill, Sean Hooey, Greg Reid, Etienne Sabino, Brad Smelley, Phillip Steward, Mitchell van Dyk, Justin Veltung, Brandon Washington, Lawrence Wilson and Darren Woodard.