BREAKING NEWS: Rams terminating Wohlabaugh's contract

[Nick]

Howard Balzer is reporting that the Rams plan on cutting center Dave Wohlabaugh.

[HUbison]

Good, he's been a walking M.A.S.H. unit since he got here.

[adarian_too]

Time to make the break. Took the plunge with KW. Now take it with the line. Cut Wohlbaugh. Trade Turley and Pace. Give Zimmer a last chance to hold the fort down. You try a patchwork orange on this and Bulger is going to get gun shy sooner than most expect.

[txramsfan]

Ok, back to reality. Wohlobaugh wasn't going to play much anyway, he wasn't expected back till late October at the earliest. Plus, wasn't this the last year of his contract anyway?

[tanus]

he signed a 4 year contract last year.

[RamWraith]

This kind of bites, how much of that salary are we going to have to eat over the next four years??

[RamWraith]

Here is the financial numbers that a herd member came up with.

----


He has 500k in dead money still against this season. (This is gone whether we keep him or not, so it doesn't matter.)

We free up 660k for this season by cutting him.

We will have 1M in dead money against the 2005 season. (We save 785k in salary, and 500k of that money would have been applied to next year.)

As far as net change of cutting him over keeping him (which is the only thing that really counts):
2004: +660k
2005: +285k

[Nick]

Combined with the numbers from Warner being cut, that's nearly $8M in dead money next season.

[JellyOpal]

Ok, I'm not thrilled with the dead money numbers, that's for sure. But the alternative is keeping guys that can't or won't contribute.

[evil disco man]

I thought it was impossible to cut a player who's injured.

Wohlabaugh was disappointing. I think he could've been a great center for the Rams, given more time, but his injuries ultimately led to him being cut. He wouldn't have had much time to improve and McCollum would've practically been calling the signals again this year - and with the younger talent rising at guard (Andy King and Scott Tercero), it doesn't seem as if Andy would've gotten much playing time, so this move makes sense. The younger players will get more time to develop as starters, which helps in the long run, and McCollum will still be able to stay on the field and make the calls, which helps us this season. Maybe the Rams can draft Richie Incognito at center after this season.

[RamWraith]

I believe that it goes to an injury settlement hearing. 2 things can happen. He can accept the terms or wait it out and be placed on IR and cut next year, like Herring did a couple years ago.

I thought it was impossible to cut a player who's injured.

[Nick]

I thought it was impossible to cut a player who's injured.

I think it's impossible to cut a player on IR, but I might be mistake.

Maybe the Rams can draft Richie Incognito at center after this season.

If I was looking for a center in the draft (right now I don't think I would be if I'm the Rams), I'm not sure Incognito would be high on my list because I've heard speculation that even though he'll be playing center for Nebraska, he's projected as an NFL tackle, and he was in court this year for assault charges. Plus, Randy Karraker thought Larry Turner was doing well in practices and projected him as the 2005 starter. I'd like to see what this kid can do before dipping back into the college pool for another player. Meanwhile, I think now that Wohlabaugh is gone and McCollum is going to the inside, it's going to be a make or break year King. He's been in the system now for two years and seems to be losing his opportunity to Tercero, who I'm not entirely sold on. But they've both had time with the team to learn the offense, so I think it's important they have a good season.

If not, the priority has to be on tackles and guards, depending on what Turley's status is. It'd be great to grab a guard like Dave Bass or Elton Brown if they're available and Tercero and King don't look like they're going to work out, but I wouldn't be opposed to grabbing a solid right tackle prospect if Turley's situation hasn't solidified itself. Someone like Jammal Brown out of Oklahoma or Marcus Johnson out of Ole Miss later in the draft, who is a guard/tackle 'tweener right now.

[RAMMAN68]

So if McCollum moves back to center, do the Rams go after a OT to provide depth in case Turley and or Pace are no shows this season?

:ramlogo:

[Nick]

So if McCollum moves back to center, do the Rams go after a OT to provide depth in case Turley and or Pace are no shows this season?

:ramlogo:

I think the line will shape out like this:

T: Pace, Turley, Williams, Randall
G: Timmerman, Tercero, King, Dishman
C: McCollum, Turner

Tercero and King have had reps at tackle in camp, so I think that decreases the need to sign another body. When/if Turley is healthy and returns to the starting line-up, then it won't look so risky.

[serkicker32]

hey all i know is this frees up a roster spot because before this it was looking kinda bad having to carry to injured players and we were gonna have to cut someone (probally dishman, randall, or turner) but now we wont have to waste that spot