Rams sign Patriots LB Ayers to free-agent deal
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_d1e701ca-e698-5736-8000-6acd2d442318.html
As Super Bowl-saving defensive plays go, it wasn’t quite “The Tackle” authored by Rams linebacker Mike Jones against Tennessee 15 years ago in Super Bowl XXXIV.
But New England probably doesn’t win last month’s Super Bowl against Seattle without linebacker Akeem Ayers helping bring down Marshawn Lynch on the one-yard line in the closing moments of the game. Teammate Dont’a Hightower finished off the tackle, and on the next play Seattle’s Russell Wilson threw that startling interception to give the Patriots a 28-24 victory.
Ayers’ next NFL tackle will be made as a Ram. He signed a two-year free-agent deal Thursday night worth $6 million, with $3 million of that total guaranteed. With incentives, the contract could max out at $10 million. As such, the Los Angeles native is the first outside free agent to sign with the Rams this offseason.
Ayers, 26, is an outside linebacker with pass-rush ability but is considered so-so against the run. At 6-3, 255, the strong-side linebacker position (over the tight end) best suits him in the Rams’ 4-3 scheme. That starting spot was manned by Jo-Lonn Dunbar last season, but the Rams are looking to add depth as well as talent to the linebacker unit so Dunbar’s spot on the roster may not necessarily be in jeopardy.
Dunbar counts a modest $1.35 million against the salary cap this season, and the Rams just paid him a modest $125,000 roster bonus due the second day of the league year (Wednesday).
Ayers signed his contract at Rams Park at the end of the visit. He left town shortly thereafter and was unavailable to the media.
Versatile and athletic, Ayers entered the league in 2011 out of UCLA as a second-round pick by Tennessee. He started 43 games in his first three seasons in Nashville, recording career highs of 104 tackles and six sacks in a breakout 2012 season.
But his production dropped in 2013 (49 tackles, one sack), a year in which he played all 16 games but had knee issues. He underwent two knee surgeries that offseason, and it appeared as if the Titans gave up on him in 2014.
He didn’t play in five of Tennessee’s first seven games last season, and then was traded in October along with a seventh-round pick to New England in exchange for a sixth-rounder from the Patriots.
Ayers provided an immediate spark to the New England defense with three sacks in his first four games. In nine regular-season games (and four starts) with the Patriots he had four sacks and an interception. But the addition of free-agent edge-rusher Jabaal Sheard made Ayers expendable this offseason there.
There is coaching familiarity with Ayers on the Rams’ staff from his time in Tennessee. Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was with Ayers two years ago as the Titans’ senior defensive assistant. Current Rams linebackers coach Frank Bush was his position coach in Tennessee in 2011 and 2012.
Undoubtedly, Williams is already scheming up packages for Ayers, adding to an already formidable Rams pass rush.
Ayers wasn’t the only free agent at Rams Park on Thursday. Detroit defensive tackle Nick Fairley also was in the building on a visit and the Rams were pushing hard to sign him before he left town.
The Rams have a penchant for signing Auburn players — it’s where general manager Les Snead went to college and where one of coach Jeff Fisher’s sons once played — and Fairley was the Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year and Lombardi Award winner in 2010.
He was drafted 13th overall by the Lions in 2011, just one spot ahead of Rams two-time Pro Bowler Robert Quinn in that year’s draft.
In four up-and-down seasons with the Lions, Fairley played in 46 games with 30 starts. He had six sacks in 2013 and 5½ in 2012. Prior to this coming season, Detroit declined to exercise his fifth-year option, reportedly having concerns about his weight and motivation.
Fairley, 27, played as heavily as 320 pounds in 2013, but trimmed down to 290 pounds entering the 2014 campaign. Knee problems limited him to eight games last season, a year in which he recorded a career-low 14 tackles and matched his career low with one sack.
Were he to join the Rams, the thought is that ex-Marine Mike Waufle — the team’s defensive line coach — could keep Fairley motivated. With the release of Kendall Langford, Fairley could play the role of third defensive tackle in the rotation behind starter Michael Brockers and 2014 NFL defensive rookie of the year Aaron Donald.
Fairley visited Cincinnati earlier this week prior to heading to St. Louis.
On the offensive line front, two free agents the Rams have on their radar — former Oakland center Steve Wisniewski and former Atlanta guard Justin Blalock — were visiting elsewhere Thursday. After visiting Tampa Bay Wednesday and leaving without a contract, Wisniewski headed to Seattle for another visit. If he leaves the Seahawks without a deal, he could visit St. Louis. Blalock was in Detroit on Thursday and is expected to visit the Rams if he doesn’t sign with the Lions.
At the moment, the Rams are looking for starters at center (with the release of Scott Wells), guard, and right tackle on the offensive line. Free agent Joe Barksdale, the Rams starting right tackle the past two seasons, has yet to make a visit anywhere.
