Dan Pompei of the National Football Post offered some high praise for a number of the St. Louis Rams' new assistant coaches in his Sunday column.
The votes are in. Your voices have been heard. And with nearly 300 entries, here are the biggest needs for the St. Louis Rams going into this offseason as decided by you:
| position | avg. (descending) | Δ2011 |
| WR | 8.648 | +0.240 |
| OT | 8.000 | +5.082 |
| OLB | 7.766 | -1.044 |
| DT | 7.455 | +0.575 |
| G | 6.410 | -1.644 |
| CB | 6.397 | +0.946 |
| RET | 6.179 | +1.266 |
| C | 5.769 | +2.351 |
| RB | 5.248 | -1.263 |
| TE | 4.793 | +0.559 |
| SS | 4.072 | -1.504 |
| FS | 3.869 | -0.169 |
| K | 2.600 | +0.959 |
| DE | 2.221 | -3.556 |
| P | 1.859 | +0.576 |
| QB | 1.759 | -0.252 |
| MLB | 1.597 | -0.436 |
Positional data and breakdown after the jump.
Back in 2008, Jacob Bell was one of the hot commodities at the offensive guard position. The St. Louis Rams bit hard on Bell, signing him to a six-year $36 million contract.
Bell came to the Rams after four years with Jeff Fishers old gig – the Tennessee Titans. He was drafted in the 5th round out of Miami (of Ohio). As a rookie, Bell made an impact right away. He played in 15 games with 14 starts at left guard (his current position).
Fast forward four years, and Bell is now on the verge of being ousted out of Rams Park. What happened?
A look back at Bell after the jump.
Jason LaCanfora of the NFL Network has a look at some of the offseason's potential cap casualties. One familiar name for TST regulars is St. Louis Rams offensive tackle Jason Smith, who is due some $10 million in 2012. LaCanfora cites a league source who says that Smith will not return to the Rams at his current rate.
That jives with a report from Pro Football Talk in January that said the Rams would cut Smith if he was unwilling to restructure his deal.
Clearly the Rams have to do something with Smith and his contract. After three seasons and three concussions, his play is no better than it was when he first put on a Rams uniform.
In 331 snaps last season, Smith allowed two sacks, two hits and 11 pressures. Pro Football Focus gave him an overall rating of -6.2 and a woeful -3.2 in pass protection along with a -1.5 in run blocking. He was even worse in 2010 with 1,060 snaps and an overall rating of -16.7 along with ratings of -7.6 as a pass blocker and -6.6 in the running game.
There are two different reports as to just how much it would save the Rams if they cut Smith. The January report from PFT said that cutting him would save the Rams $9 million against this year's cap. A report today from Howard Balzer at ESPN 101 says that cutting Smith would leave them on the hook for far more against the cap.
Whatever the cost, the Rams probably need to move on from Smith entirely, avoiding the franchise killing mistake of giving top draft picks more chances than they have earned. Even with an incentive-laden deal, Smith seems unlikely to be more than a league average blocker. His contract, even renegotiated, would still pay him better than another league average blocker and eating up more cap space than necessary.
The San Francisco 49ers have granted cornerback Shawntae Spencer permission to seek a trade. According to Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area, the St. Louis Rams could be among the potential suitors.
Spencer failed to crack the starting lineup in 2011, after being a starter the two season prior. He fell all the way to fifth on the depth chart.
Fifth corners typically do not make $3.3 million, which is what Spencer is due this season. San Francisco may be more motivated to deal with Spencer due such a large sum. Of course, teams could wait them out, knowing that he will most likely be cut.
The Rams reportedly have eyes for Titans free agent cornerback Cortland Finnegan, who will fetch far more than $3.3 million in free agency.
According to Pro Football Focus, Spencer played just 14 snaps in 2011. Injuries kept the 30-year old on the shelf for a significant amount of the season. As a full time starter in 2010, Spencer had a -7.9 rating from PFF and a -4.8 in coverage. Sam Bradford torched Spencer in Week 16 of 2010, completing six of eight passes against him for 91 yards.
Spencer was a little better in 2009, grading out with a 5.4 rating overall and in coverage. He might an upgrade over Justin King or some of the others on the bottom of the Rams depth chart, but he is not a player the Rams would be well advised to invest $3.3 million in this season.
Les Snead, the St. Louis Rams new general manager, dropped a hint about what kind of players he values in his introductory press conference. What Snead said will be music to fans' ears after watching the team struggle to score points season after season. It might even give you a clue about which prospects and free agents could be on the Rams' draft board as well as which current players might or might not be sticking around in 2012.
March 8. That's the date on which Peyton Manning is due $28 million from the Indianapolis Colts for services, uh, not rendered. At least not any time recently. Which forces a decision for Peyton.
Does he forgo the money and re-sign with the Colts for a much less lucrative deal (which Colts owner Bob Irsay is reportedly open to) or does he hit the open market? The latter is what should concern Rams fans. If Peyton does indeed test free agency or even sign with a team before the draft, the chances to trade that second over pick lessen.
The question is whether or not Peyton Manning will be able to play football in 2012. Judging from today's report from Sports Illustrated's Don Banks, it's not incredibly likely. Not only did that article reveal a previously unreported fourth surgery from last season, but Banks went on to say:
...league sources say Manning's neck has potentially developed bone spurs just above the point where his latest fusion surgery took place in early September, and the Colts organization is under the belief that it is nearly inevitable Manning will at some point require further surgery, and possibly another fusion procedure, even if he does successfully return to the field in 2012. It's unclear how any potential long-term neck issues will impact Manning's decision to attempt a resumption of his NFL playing career later this year.
It's not the most damning article to come out, but it's worth reminding those fan bases eager to bring in Peyton Manning to be their savior that he may not be capable of being himself anymore.
Age has a weird way of making everyone retire at some point.
When the supreme overlord Ryan Van Bibber blessed me with this article, I was unsure of how I'd grade the Rams 2012 defensive free agents. Are any of them worth keeping? Will they even fit Greggggg Williams defense? I mean, this is a team that has UFA's ranging from Bryan Kehl to Justin King! Wait a minute...this might be a bit easier than expected.
Hit the jump to see the list of defensive free agents and whether or not the Rams should keep them around.
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