Bernie: Deal in Place for Bennett

[general counsel]

I would rather have faulk and a #4 than bennett. That assumes of course that faulk can and wants to play. Alas, my gut tells me that if bernie is correct, and that is a BIG IF, we dont believe that fischer is the right backup and that we dont think faulk is going to play this year. The move reeks of desparation in the context of what else is available on the market. The guy hasnt been healthy for four years, is likely to cost a decent pick, and isnt cheap cap wise. On top of that, we take the cap hit to pay faulk for not playing.

If we make a deal like this without an announcement from faulk, it will be a crystal clear message that marshall is not coming back. I also agree that this could well mean less carries for jackson.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

[Nick]

The guy hasnt been healthy for four years, is likely to cost a decent pick, and isnt cheap cap wise.

Actually his cap charge doesn't work against him that much if at all. If he's traded to us, I believe it's New Orleans that takes the accelerated cap hit for his bonus money, and we only have to worry about his salary, which for 2006 is $700k. Even if we have to factor in the bonus money for his cap hit, it would only be about $1.2 million for 2006.

But the rest of your points I think are dead on. For a guy who hasn't done a lot in a couple of years besides sit on the sideline injured, he's probably going to cost a moderate amount and making that deal would seem to indicate that the staff and front office doesn't think Faulk is coming back.

[theodus69]

Not entirely true. He did have a season with 1,296 yards and a 5.1 ypc average. Of course, that was back in 2002. Since then, he has not been able to stay healthy or carry the load of a primary back. As a situational back-up, though, he could be a good fit.

Well with #s like that , he may end up the starter!LOL

[ramsbruce]

Well with #s like that , he may end up the starter!LOL

Well if we want to go back to 2002, Faulk would be the starter. LOL

[RamsFan16]

Well if we want to go back to 2002, Faulk would be the starter. LOL

Captain Obvious. Its not that far in front of our face to say that!

[ramsbruce]

Captain Obvious. Its not that far in front of our face to say that!

It was a joke relax, and apparently you didn't get the joke.

[RamsFan16]

It was a joke relax, and apparently you didn't get the joke.

I figured you were joking I just wasn't taking any chances of a missed opportunity

[jkramsfan]

with bennett,you know what your getting, some guys are saying dont give up a #4 pick,of which we have no ideal who or what that pick will be,so what i am saying is take the known over the unknown if it helps our offense,and maybe this is a way to get faulk to make his decision,he has alot of pride and may not like the rams making plans to go on without him without him making anything official.

[Nick]

some guys are saying dont give up a #4 pick,of which we have no ideal who or what that pick will be

That's true, but also consider that there's the chance that whoever we could take with that pick could potentially be much better than Bennett. We have no idea how the draft will shape out, so while part of that unknown could be bad, part of it could also be really, really good. Look at our last six fourth round picks:

2006: Victor Adeyanju
2005: Jerome Carter & Claude Terrell
2004: Brandon Chillar
2003: Shaun McDonald & Dejuan Groce

Other noteable fourth round picks over that same time period: Max Jean-Gilles, Darnell Bing, Brad Smith, Ko Simpson, Gabe Watson, Leon Washington, Marion Barber, Brandon Jacobs, Darren Sproles, Ernest Wilford, Jason David, Jared Allen, Adrian Jones, Domanick Davis, Onterrio Smith, Lee Suggs, Jeremi Johnson, Asante Samuel, and Justin Griffith.

So yeah, it's an unknown what we're going to get, but there's the potential for some pretty good players to be available in round four. Is it worth giving that up for a guy who is going to have to compete for the back-up RB spot?

[ImJohnWayne]

What would everyone's feelings be if the Rams running game suddenly went from one featured back, to a RB tandum like the Steelers, Broncos and Panthers?

Any chance of that happening under Linehan?

[RamOfDenmark]

I'm hoping the mentions of 3rd or 4th round picks are only speculation by either Bernie or the poster from the other forum. We can't seriously be considering giving up a 3rd or even a 4th for a 28 year old guy with one good season and serious health problems, I don't believe the front office/coaching staff would make such a move. Not with how thrifty they've been with the draft picks lately.

The more I hear about our running back situation though, the more I'm thinking that Marshall Faulk isn't coming back, and that Linehan prefers a RB by committee approach - how will Jackson react to that? I could easily see Jackson becoming a problem during the season if he's not getting significantly more carries than under Martz and I don't believe he will.

[Goldenfleece]

Well, when Ricky retired in Miami, the Fins gave us a 3rd rounder for Lamar Gordon. He was younger but less talented than Bennett. That was an awful move on their part, but it just goes to show what a team without a lot of options may do.

The way I see this, we could probably count on Bennett to be an above average backup for about three more years, but you really don't want your insurance policy to be injury-prone. I disagree with the idea that "you know what you're getting" with him because injuries and in a couple years age are going to be serious question marks. I think injuries have already slowed him down some. However, Linehan probably would be more tempted to go with a platoon approach in the backfield if he had Bennett. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it seems to me that the interest in trading for Bennett suggests that the team views Fisher as its no. 3 and feels that if it loses Faulk, it will need a legit no. 2 back. Capwise, he looks like a decent value, but a 3rd rounder is too much and a 4th rounder is really pushing it.

[HUbison]

Well, when Ricky retired in Miami, the Fins gave us a 3rd rounder for Lamar Gordon. He was younger but less talented than Bennett. That was an awful move on their part, but it just goes to show what a team without a lot of options may do.

And that was one of the questionable moves that got Rick Speilman fired less than a year later.

[HUbison]

What would everyone's feelings be if the Rams running game suddenly went from one featured back, to a RB tandum like the Steelers, Broncos and Panthers?

Any chance of that happening under Linehan?

I think there is an excellent chance of that. Everywhere Linehan has gone, he's utilized to some degree RB-by-committee. I may be wrong, but I'm not sold that Linehan's going to give SJ the 25-30 carries a game that he's wanting.

[AugustaRamFan]

So - does this semi-imply that Marshall is much closer to a retirement run than a Super Bowl run in 06/07?

In his words (and I misquote) "...if the team has a shot at the championship..."

I like what the Lambs have done so far, but a Super Bowl run, although possible, is not very probable.

Have we seen the last of MF??