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Free-agent list will keep Rams busy
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_5796f874-c3b0-53fd-b6cd-9848031e98c1.html
During most of their time in St. Louis, the Rams have done a good job of re-signing their own free agents. And to a large degree, that’s meant keeping their core players from even reaching the market by locking them up before the start of free agency.
Undoubtedly distracted by the planned franchise move to Los Angeles, that’s not necessarily the case this year. The team has 12 players scheduled for unrestricted free agency; six more are scheduled for restricted free agency.
Of the 12 pending unrestricted free agents, eight started at least six games this season. And that’s not including kicker Greg Zuerlein. All told, the dozen players accounted for 101 starts between them during the just-completed season. That’s a lot of time on the field that needs to either be re-signed, or replaced.
“There’s been discussions,” coach Jeff Fisher said Monday at his season wrap-up news conference. “It’s been on-going. I’m confident that Kevin (Demoff) and Tony (Pastoors) will get those things done. We have good relationships with the agents. By all accounts, they all want to come back, which is good.”
Demoff, of course, is the team’s executive vice president of football operations; Pastoors, who increasingly has done the heavy lifting in terms of signing players in recent years, has the title of senior assistant.
This offseason is the first in which players drafted during the Fisher-Les Snead tenure are eligible for free agency.
Cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins and Trumaine Johnson, wide receiver Brian Quick, and Zuerlein are all pending unrestricted free agents from the first Fisher-Snead draft class of 2012. Jenkins is the first Rams player acquired via a draft pick from the Robert Griffin III trade to become eligible for free agency.
Throw in free safety Rodney McLeod and tight end/fullback Cory Harkey, who were signed by the Rams as undrafted rookies, and that makes six rookies brought in in 2012 that are pending free agents.
“We have a lot of decisions to make,” Fisher said. “We’ve got some key free agents that we have to get back. That’s gonna be our focus, especially in the secondary. We’ve drafted well there. They’ve produced.
“We’ve developed them, and we don’t want to develop them for anyone else. So we want to be sure that we’re able to get them back. We’re confident we can do that.”
We’ll see. Since the early days of the Fisher-Snead tandem in St. Louis, the Rams have boasted about their youth, and all the draft picks they have accumulated — in part due to the RGIII trade and spinoff trades. These were the players the team would develop and grow with. They would become the foundation of the team for years to come.
But now comes the problem. If you can’t re-sign those players, they become somebody else’s core — or as Fisher says, you have developed them for somebody else. And history shows, the closer you get to the start of free agency — which begins March 9 this year — the more likely players are to explore the market.
The Rams do have tons of salary cap room. When all is said and done it could be in excess of $50 million. For now, tampering aside, teams have exclusive negotiating rights with their own free agents until early March.
As Fisher mentioned, it all begins with the secondary, where three of the four starters are scheduled for unrestricted free agency — Jenkins, Johnson, and McLeod.
Jenkins and Johnson have developed into a good cornerback tandem, with 91 NFL starts between them. Both made the most of their “contract years” this season, playing their best football.
“They’ve done well, and I think you (reporters) have seen them improve every single year of their careers,” defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said last week. “So, I’d love to be able to coach them for the rest of their careers, hopefully. We’ll see.”
Jenkins and Johnson both have expressed an interest in returning to the Rams — then again, most players throughout the league say the same thing about returning to their current squad.
From outward appearances, it seems that the Rams have spent more time and energy trying to get Jenkins re-signed. But around the time of the Rams’ bye week in mid-October, Jenkins said he no longer wanted to negotiate with the Rams during the season, and was willing to “bet on himself.”
In other words, gamble that his play over the remainder of the season would make him a desirable free agent, not just to the Rams but to cornerback-needy teams throughout the league. The Rams are still talking to Jenkins’ agent, and the situation can best be described as fluid.
Meanwhile, Mark Barron has played his way into the Rams’ hearts, so to speak, blossoming in a linebacker/safety role this season. Filling the void at weakside linebacker following Alec Ogletree’s season-ending leg injury Oct. 4 in Arizona, Barron led the Rams in tackles with a career-high 135 and also had a team-high four forced fumbles.
“We desperately want him back, and he wants to come back,” Fisher said. “He likes the role. He likes the position.”
Even with Ogletree returning next season, Fisher says the Rams can find plenty of packages to keep Barron busy in his hybrid role. Barron told The Post-Dispatch after the San Francisco game that discussions were ongoing between his agent and the Rams.
“I can’t really give you much on it, because I don’t know,” Barron said. “Just gotta go and talk, and get something worked out. Hopefully, we can get something worked out.”
Another area to keep an eye on is the defensive line, where depth has been a huge asset in recent seasons but three top reserves are pending free agents: ends William Hayes and Eugene Sims, and tackle Nick Fairley.
Because of injuries to usual starters Robert Quinn and Chris Long, Hayes and Sims actually had more combined starts (20) than Quinn and Long (12) this season. Hayes loves playing for Fisher, so unless he gets totally low-balled by the Rams or blown away by an outside offer, he’ll be back.
“(Fisher’s) an amazing guy,” Hayes said. “He cares about us players, and pushes me. That’s the thing I appreciate about him the most. He gets more out of me than any other coach ever has. He knows I’d jump off a roof for him. That’s the love I’ve got for him.”
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_5796f874-c3b0-53fd-b6cd-9848031e98c1.html
During most of their time in St. Louis, the Rams have done a good job of re-signing their own free agents. And to a large degree, that’s meant keeping their core players from even reaching the market by locking them up before the start of free agency.
Undoubtedly distracted by the planned franchise move to Los Angeles, that’s not necessarily the case this year. The team has 12 players scheduled for unrestricted free agency; six more are scheduled for restricted free agency.
Of the 12 pending unrestricted free agents, eight started at least six games this season. And that’s not including kicker Greg Zuerlein. All told, the dozen players accounted for 101 starts between them during the just-completed season. That’s a lot of time on the field that needs to either be re-signed, or replaced.
“There’s been discussions,” coach Jeff Fisher said Monday at his season wrap-up news conference. “It’s been on-going. I’m confident that Kevin (Demoff) and Tony (Pastoors) will get those things done. We have good relationships with the agents. By all accounts, they all want to come back, which is good.”
Demoff, of course, is the team’s executive vice president of football operations; Pastoors, who increasingly has done the heavy lifting in terms of signing players in recent years, has the title of senior assistant.
This offseason is the first in which players drafted during the Fisher-Les Snead tenure are eligible for free agency.
Cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins and Trumaine Johnson, wide receiver Brian Quick, and Zuerlein are all pending unrestricted free agents from the first Fisher-Snead draft class of 2012. Jenkins is the first Rams player acquired via a draft pick from the Robert Griffin III trade to become eligible for free agency.
Throw in free safety Rodney McLeod and tight end/fullback Cory Harkey, who were signed by the Rams as undrafted rookies, and that makes six rookies brought in in 2012 that are pending free agents.
“We have a lot of decisions to make,” Fisher said. “We’ve got some key free agents that we have to get back. That’s gonna be our focus, especially in the secondary. We’ve drafted well there. They’ve produced.
“We’ve developed them, and we don’t want to develop them for anyone else. So we want to be sure that we’re able to get them back. We’re confident we can do that.”
We’ll see. Since the early days of the Fisher-Snead tandem in St. Louis, the Rams have boasted about their youth, and all the draft picks they have accumulated — in part due to the RGIII trade and spinoff trades. These were the players the team would develop and grow with. They would become the foundation of the team for years to come.
But now comes the problem. If you can’t re-sign those players, they become somebody else’s core — or as Fisher says, you have developed them for somebody else. And history shows, the closer you get to the start of free agency — which begins March 9 this year — the more likely players are to explore the market.
The Rams do have tons of salary cap room. When all is said and done it could be in excess of $50 million. For now, tampering aside, teams have exclusive negotiating rights with their own free agents until early March.
As Fisher mentioned, it all begins with the secondary, where three of the four starters are scheduled for unrestricted free agency — Jenkins, Johnson, and McLeod.
Jenkins and Johnson have developed into a good cornerback tandem, with 91 NFL starts between them. Both made the most of their “contract years” this season, playing their best football.
“They’ve done well, and I think you (reporters) have seen them improve every single year of their careers,” defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said last week. “So, I’d love to be able to coach them for the rest of their careers, hopefully. We’ll see.”
Jenkins and Johnson both have expressed an interest in returning to the Rams — then again, most players throughout the league say the same thing about returning to their current squad.
From outward appearances, it seems that the Rams have spent more time and energy trying to get Jenkins re-signed. But around the time of the Rams’ bye week in mid-October, Jenkins said he no longer wanted to negotiate with the Rams during the season, and was willing to “bet on himself.”
In other words, gamble that his play over the remainder of the season would make him a desirable free agent, not just to the Rams but to cornerback-needy teams throughout the league. The Rams are still talking to Jenkins’ agent, and the situation can best be described as fluid.
Meanwhile, Mark Barron has played his way into the Rams’ hearts, so to speak, blossoming in a linebacker/safety role this season. Filling the void at weakside linebacker following Alec Ogletree’s season-ending leg injury Oct. 4 in Arizona, Barron led the Rams in tackles with a career-high 135 and also had a team-high four forced fumbles.
“We desperately want him back, and he wants to come back,” Fisher said. “He likes the role. He likes the position.”
Even with Ogletree returning next season, Fisher says the Rams can find plenty of packages to keep Barron busy in his hybrid role. Barron told The Post-Dispatch after the San Francisco game that discussions were ongoing between his agent and the Rams.
“I can’t really give you much on it, because I don’t know,” Barron said. “Just gotta go and talk, and get something worked out. Hopefully, we can get something worked out.”
Another area to keep an eye on is the defensive line, where depth has been a huge asset in recent seasons but three top reserves are pending free agents: ends William Hayes and Eugene Sims, and tackle Nick Fairley.
Because of injuries to usual starters Robert Quinn and Chris Long, Hayes and Sims actually had more combined starts (20) than Quinn and Long (12) this season. Hayes loves playing for Fisher, so unless he gets totally low-balled by the Rams or blown away by an outside offer, he’ll be back.
“(Fisher’s) an amazing guy,” Hayes said. “He cares about us players, and pushes me. That’s the thing I appreciate about him the most. He gets more out of me than any other coach ever has. He knows I’d jump off a roof for him. That’s the love I’ve got for him.”
.
