By Jim Thomas
Of the Post-Dispatch
Thursday, Jan. 27 2005
In today's NFL, it's no longer the offseason. It's the business season. And now
that the Rams' season is over, the challenge for team management, the personnel
department and the coaching staff is to improve the roster within the
ever-tightening constraints of the salary cap.
The Rams have 44 players under contract for the 2005 season or beyond. Those
players count $71.3 million against a 2005 cap that is expected to be around
$86 million. That leaves the Rams with nearly $15 million to fill out their
53-man roster, assemble a practice squad and replace injured players during the
season.
Jay Zygmunt, the Rams' president of football operations, has skillfully managed
the salary cap during the team's 10-year stay in St. Louis. But largely because
of last June's release of Kurt Warner, what's known as "dead money" is becoming
an issue in the team's salary cap picture.
Dead money is money that counts against a team's salary cap for players no
longer with the team. All told, the Rams have $7,774,000 in dead money, which
is roughly 9 percent of their projected 2005 cap: Warner counts $6.7 million
against the cap; center Dave Wohlabaugh counts $1 million; and safety Jason
Shivers counts $74,000.
The total in dead money could climb, depending on whether offensive tackle Kyle
Turley and running back Marshall Faulk return. Early indications are that Faulk
will be back, but Turley seems intent on talking his way out of town, even if
his back is healthy.
As things stand, the Rams have six players under contract who count $4.5
million or higher against the cap in 2005:
Wide receiver Isaac Bruce: $9.34 million.
Faulk: $7.53 million.
Warner: $6.72 million.
Turley: $5.57 million.
Defensive end
Leonard Little: $5 million.
Wide receiver
Torry Holt: $4.52 million.
Combined, those six players account for $38.68 million of 2005 cap space.
That's a lot of money for a handful of players. Only four teams in the NFL have
more than six players under contract who count $4.5 million or more against the
cap in 2005: Cleveland, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Tennessee have seven
apiece. (The league average is four such players per team.)
Now assume for a moment that the Rams place the franchise tag on left tackle
Orlando Pace for the third consecutive season. Team president John Shaw
consistently has said the team will do just that if unable to reach agreement
on a multiyear deal. Whether Pace's lackluster play in the Rams' playoff loss
to Atlanta changes Shaw's mind is uncertain.
In the 2005 season, a franchise tag on Pace will be at least $8.5 million. Add
that to the cap numbers of the six players listed above, and the Rams would
have more than $47 million of cap space tied up in seven players.
Despite rumors to the contrary, Pace still does not have an agent. On Thursday,
an NFL Players Association spokesman confirmed this was the case. The rumor
mill has installed Tom Condon of IMG and St. Louisan Rocky Arceneaux as the
frontrunners. Arceneaux recently told the Post-Dispatch his supposed
"frontrunner" status was news to him.
In any event, a multiyear deal with Pace could chop as much as $5 million off
his salary cap number compared to what it would be if he were franchised in
2005, and that could help the team address another need or two in free agency.
At the moment, safety, linebacker, defensive line (particularly end) and
offensive line remain the team's greatest needs. The Rams have 14 players
scheduled for unrestricted free agency the first week of March.
Among that group, Pace, defensive end Bryce Fisher, safety Antuan Edwards and
tight end Cameron Cleeland are players the team wants back. Edwards didn't play
well in the Atlanta game, but he was the best safety the Rams had in 2005, in
terms of range and hustle. But even if the Rams sign Edwards, they still need
to add bodies at safety because Adam Archuleta is the only player the Rams have
under contract at that position.
Fisher came on strong late in the 2004 season and led the team with 8 1/2
sacks. There is a feeling among some coaches at Rams Park that they have worked
to help develop Fisher into a player, so why let him go elsewhere now that he's
proven he can play in the NFL?
But how high do the Rams bid in trying to retain Edwards and Fisher? There
isn't much out there in terms of prospective free agents at safety. The list is
much more intriguing at defensive end, where John Abraham of the New York Jets,
Reggie Hayward (10 1/2 sacks in 2004) of Denver, Darren Howard of New Orleans
and Derrick Burgess of Philadelphia are scheduled to be unrestricted.
At linebacker, perhaps the team's poorest performing unit in 2004, the Rams
appear to have lukewarm interest - at best - in re-signing Tommy Polley, who's
scheduled for unrestricted free agency. There are several intriguing names
there across the league, including Philly's Jeremiah Trotter, Baltimore's Ed
Hartwell and San Francisco's Julian Peterson.
On the offensive line, the Rams are considering moving promising young blocker
Scott Tercero to right tackle and moving Blaine Saipaia to left guard. Even if
those moves turn out well, the Rams still need more bodies up front.
It looks as if Turley won't be back. Left guards Tom Nutten (toe) and Chris
Dishman (knee) may have to retire - again, in both cases - because of injury.
Keep in mind, the list of prospective free agents is a moving target. Between
now and the first week of March, several teams will re-sign some of their
prospective free agents, taking them off the market. A half-dozen or so players
will be named franchise players, in effect taking them off the market.
But there also will be a late surge of players added to the market in the form
of salary cap cuts because teams must be under $86 million by the start of the
free agency period.
The Rams actually are in better cap shape than most teams. At $71.3 million,
the Rams have more cap room than all but 10 NFL teams - and probably have
enough money to make a couple of forays into the free-agent market.
Tennessee, Miami and Tampa Bay, for example, are between $16 million and $26
million over the cap, meaning they will have to jettison players and rework
contracts to squeeze under the cap by the first week of March.
The Rams may rework Faulk's contract for cap relief - he's scheduled to count
$7.53 million against the cap in 2005.
Linear Mode
