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More ripple than splash for Rams so far in free agency
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_7a2d9d99-c91b-5fbd-b925-df0af4cb9db4.html
Orlando, Fla. • The Rams have moved at a glacial pace for much of this free-agency period. Coach Jeff Fisher is aware of the criticism. But he’s neither defensive nor apologetic about the lack of activity. Nor is he angry about having fewer salary cap dollars available this offseason.
“Our philosophy has varied from year to year,” Fisher said Wednesday at the NFL owners meetings. “There are those that say we haven’t been very active this year. That doesn’t mean to say we’re done.
“And we did do some things over the last couple years to help our football team. You just have to look at who’s available and whether that player fits — not only from an ability standpoint, but from a market standpoint.”
During his first two offseasons in St. Louis, the Rams committed an average of about $85 million a year in free-agent contracts, be it players from other teams or Rams free agents who were re-signed.
In 2012, the headliner additions were cornerback Cortland Finnegan, center Scott Wells, and defensive tackle Kendall Langford. Last offseason, it was offensive tackle Jake Long, tight end Jared Cook, and re-signed defensive end William Hayes.
So far this offseason, the Rams have committed less than $40 million with most of that total used to re-sign offensive
lineman Rodger Saffold. Keep in mind, these dollar figures assume the player plays out the entirety of the contract, which doesn’t happen all that often in free agency.
“We have re-signed Rodger, which I think is a huge move for us,” Fisher said. “Our priority going into free agency was to get Rodger signed. And we’ve signed a very, very good defensive tackle (Alex Carrington) that’ll fit into the rotation for us. That helps.”
Carrington, from the Buffalo Bills, agreed to terms Tuesday and has since signed his contract.
“We just wanted some more experience at that spot,” Fisher said. “It will take a little of the draft pressure off us I think at some point. Alex has been injured; he’s healthy now. Played a lot of different positions and a number of schemes over the last couple years, and hasn’t been able to settle down.
“We liked him coming out (in 2010). We thought he potentially was gonna be a disruptive type of inside pass rusher, run defender. So we’d like to give him a chance to do that.”
Carrington might have been the Rams’ third option at defensive tackle this offseason. But they were aiming high in courting Antonio Smith and Henry Melton in the sense that they were past starters who would’ve come to St. Louis slated to be rotation players. Smith ended up with Oakland; Melton with Dallas.
A few hours after Fisher spoke at the NFC coaches’ breakfast, the Rams agreed to terms with Detroit Lions free agent quarterback Shaun Hill on a one-year deal. Hill, 34, replaces Kellen Clemens as the veteran backup to starter Sam Bradford.
Hill’s presence won’t preclude the Rams from selecting a quarterback at some point in this year’s draft. Hill worked with Rams quarterback coach Frank Cignetti in 2007 with the San Francisco 49ers, and they have a good rapport.
Hill doesn’t have great arm strength and has an unorthodox delivery. But he’s smart, competitive, and has career numbers that are better than most backups in terms of completion percentage (61.9), passer rating (85.9), and touchdown-to-interception ratio (41 to 23).
After adding Carrington and Hill, the team’s free-agent ledger reads as follows: They’ve re-signed a starting guard (Saffold) and a starting strongside linebacker (Jo-Lonn Dunbar). They’ve added a third defensive tackle (Carrington) and a backup quarterback (Hill).
Hardly enough to merit gold stars, but probably enough to prevent picketing by irate fans at Rams Park.
The Rams are working other areas as well in free agency.
The team feels it has a better than a 50-50 chance to sign Tennessee wide receiver Kenny Britt, who has speed and still-untapped potential but also injury and off-the-field issues.
“I’m hoping that sometime here very soon, we’ll get something done (with Britt),” Fisher said.
The team still has some lines out at guard because retaining Saffold fills only one of two starting spots at the position. They remain interested in Davin Joseph or Daryn Colledge.
Center/guard Mike McGlynn, who started 14 games for Indianapolis last season, is visiting the Titans today after making previous stops with the Rams and Washington, according to the Tennessean.
The Rams offered former Seattle guard Paul McQuistan a deal and brought him in for a visit last week. But he signed with Cleveland for two years, $3 million and with provisions that can max out the deal at $5 million. That was more than the Rams were willing to pay.
The Rams would’ve been very close to the cap if not for the fact that the cap went up several million dollars more than anticipated. The release of guard Harvey Dahl and Finnegan also helped. Even at that, they entered the offseason with only decent cap space.
“We’re not gonna go overspend this offseason, particularly because of what we’ve done the last two years,” Fisher said. “We knew going in who we were interested in, who we were gonna bring in, what our options were.”
The one major area where help has eluded the Rams so far in free agency is the secondary, where there are needs at cornerback and safety.
Fisher conceded, “it would’ve been nice” to add a veteran defensive back. “But that market got priced out of what we were looking for.”
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_7a2d9d99-c91b-5fbd-b925-df0af4cb9db4.html
Orlando, Fla. • The Rams have moved at a glacial pace for much of this free-agency period. Coach Jeff Fisher is aware of the criticism. But he’s neither defensive nor apologetic about the lack of activity. Nor is he angry about having fewer salary cap dollars available this offseason.
“Our philosophy has varied from year to year,” Fisher said Wednesday at the NFL owners meetings. “There are those that say we haven’t been very active this year. That doesn’t mean to say we’re done.
“And we did do some things over the last couple years to help our football team. You just have to look at who’s available and whether that player fits — not only from an ability standpoint, but from a market standpoint.”
During his first two offseasons in St. Louis, the Rams committed an average of about $85 million a year in free-agent contracts, be it players from other teams or Rams free agents who were re-signed.
In 2012, the headliner additions were cornerback Cortland Finnegan, center Scott Wells, and defensive tackle Kendall Langford. Last offseason, it was offensive tackle Jake Long, tight end Jared Cook, and re-signed defensive end William Hayes.
So far this offseason, the Rams have committed less than $40 million with most of that total used to re-sign offensive
lineman Rodger Saffold. Keep in mind, these dollar figures assume the player plays out the entirety of the contract, which doesn’t happen all that often in free agency.
“We have re-signed Rodger, which I think is a huge move for us,” Fisher said. “Our priority going into free agency was to get Rodger signed. And we’ve signed a very, very good defensive tackle (Alex Carrington) that’ll fit into the rotation for us. That helps.”
Carrington, from the Buffalo Bills, agreed to terms Tuesday and has since signed his contract.
“We just wanted some more experience at that spot,” Fisher said. “It will take a little of the draft pressure off us I think at some point. Alex has been injured; he’s healthy now. Played a lot of different positions and a number of schemes over the last couple years, and hasn’t been able to settle down.
“We liked him coming out (in 2010). We thought he potentially was gonna be a disruptive type of inside pass rusher, run defender. So we’d like to give him a chance to do that.”
Carrington might have been the Rams’ third option at defensive tackle this offseason. But they were aiming high in courting Antonio Smith and Henry Melton in the sense that they were past starters who would’ve come to St. Louis slated to be rotation players. Smith ended up with Oakland; Melton with Dallas.
A few hours after Fisher spoke at the NFC coaches’ breakfast, the Rams agreed to terms with Detroit Lions free agent quarterback Shaun Hill on a one-year deal. Hill, 34, replaces Kellen Clemens as the veteran backup to starter Sam Bradford.
Hill’s presence won’t preclude the Rams from selecting a quarterback at some point in this year’s draft. Hill worked with Rams quarterback coach Frank Cignetti in 2007 with the San Francisco 49ers, and they have a good rapport.
Hill doesn’t have great arm strength and has an unorthodox delivery. But he’s smart, competitive, and has career numbers that are better than most backups in terms of completion percentage (61.9), passer rating (85.9), and touchdown-to-interception ratio (41 to 23).
After adding Carrington and Hill, the team’s free-agent ledger reads as follows: They’ve re-signed a starting guard (Saffold) and a starting strongside linebacker (Jo-Lonn Dunbar). They’ve added a third defensive tackle (Carrington) and a backup quarterback (Hill).
Hardly enough to merit gold stars, but probably enough to prevent picketing by irate fans at Rams Park.
The Rams are working other areas as well in free agency.
The team feels it has a better than a 50-50 chance to sign Tennessee wide receiver Kenny Britt, who has speed and still-untapped potential but also injury and off-the-field issues.
“I’m hoping that sometime here very soon, we’ll get something done (with Britt),” Fisher said.
The team still has some lines out at guard because retaining Saffold fills only one of two starting spots at the position. They remain interested in Davin Joseph or Daryn Colledge.
Center/guard Mike McGlynn, who started 14 games for Indianapolis last season, is visiting the Titans today after making previous stops with the Rams and Washington, according to the Tennessean.
The Rams offered former Seattle guard Paul McQuistan a deal and brought him in for a visit last week. But he signed with Cleveland for two years, $3 million and with provisions that can max out the deal at $5 million. That was more than the Rams were willing to pay.
The Rams would’ve been very close to the cap if not for the fact that the cap went up several million dollars more than anticipated. The release of guard Harvey Dahl and Finnegan also helped. Even at that, they entered the offseason with only decent cap space.
“We’re not gonna go overspend this offseason, particularly because of what we’ve done the last two years,” Fisher said. “We knew going in who we were interested in, who we were gonna bring in, what our options were.”
The one major area where help has eluded the Rams so far in free agency is the secondary, where there are needs at cornerback and safety.
Fisher conceded, “it would’ve been nice” to add a veteran defensive back. “But that market got priced out of what we were looking for.”
