Report: Rams to re-sign C Barnes
By Nate Latsch
http://stl.scout.com/story/1532892-report-rams-to-re-sign-c-barnes?s=124
The St. Louis Rams have agreed to terms and are expected to re-sign backup center Tim Barnes on Tuesday, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Barnes agreed to a new deal on Monday, Thomas reported, after taking a free agent visit to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The 26-year-old Barnes, who played collegiately at the University of Missouri, has played in 45 games with the Rams over the past three seasons and started four in 2013 after an injury to Scott Wells.
The Rams released Wells, their starting center, along with left tackle Jake Long at the onset of free agency to free up salary cap space. The team opted not tender Wells a contract as a restricted free agent this offseason with the possibility that they could sign him to a smaller deal later on.
That now looks like it will come to fruition on Tuesday.
The 6-foot-4, 306-pound Barnes will now likely compete with Barrett Jones and Demetrius Rhaney for the starting center spot, unless the Rams sign a more established center this offseason. The team had previously been linked to interest in Stefen Wisniewski, formerly of the Oakland Raiders, who is still unsigned.
Jones was a fourth-round pick in 2013 out of the University of Alabama but has played in just 11 games, all as a backup, in his first two seasons. Rhaney, from Tennessee State, was a seventh-round pick in 2014 but missed his entire rookie campaign with a knee injury he suffered in training camp.
If the Rams are indeed signing Barnes to compete for the center spot, they are still in need of starters at right guard and right tackle, where Davin Joseph and Joe Barksdale are unrestricted free agents. The team is still reportedly interested in re-signing Barksdale.
St. Louis has also been linked to having interest in free agent guard Justin Blalock, formerly of the Atlanta Falcons, and could opt to try to fill those spots through a draft considered deep with offensive linemen.