Bruce as a whiner

[Rambos]

I had to get it over with...thoughts.

[moklerman]

The Rams are penny pinching, dilweeds who have no sense of loyalty or tradition that don't care what might make the fans happy or upset?

[txramsfan]

The Rams are penny pinching, dilweeds who have no sense of loyalty or tradition that don't care what might make the fans happy or upset?

Couldn't have said it better.

[HUbison]

The Rams are penny pinching, dilweeds who have no sense of loyalty or tradition that don't care what might make the fans happy or upset?

Your thoughts are understood, Mok. However, the bottomline is that the Rams bottomline is.......well, the bottomline.

Fan happiness is a mere by-product of a successful organization, not a goal.

[moloch41]

Honestly- I don't think Bruce wanted to play for Linehan and wanted to play for Martz. Now, if we had included enough zeroes in his paycheck, he might have changed his mind, but the pen probably ran out of ink...

[Rambos]

Your thoughts are understood, Mok. However, the bottomline is that the Rams bottomline is.......well, the bottomline.

Fan happiness is a mere by-product of a successful organization, not a goal.

I agree,

The next time we see Bruce in Rams gear is when he goes into the HOF.

[Chris58]

It had been brought up in an ancient previous post that Bruce had been the third highest paid WR in the NFL over the last 10 years (not sure about the # of years, but it was significant). That being said, as good as Bruce has been to the Rams, the Rams have also been good to him. I think Moloch41 has it right. He wanted his security blanket back and that was Martz. Proof: The difference in contracts was the number of years the two teams were offering. The dollars for 2008 were the same for the Rams and *****.

[moklerman]

The Rams could have:

-made Bruce feel like he was a part of the plans on offense
-signed him to a contract that would have made him happy and not crippled the team's salary cap.

Instead, they've paid money for guys like Drew Bennett, Randy McMichael and Dante Hall.

[HUbison]

The Rams could have:

-made Bruce feel like he was a part of the plans on offense
-signed him to a contract that would have made him happy and not crippled the team's salary cap.

Instead, they've paid money for guys like Drew Bennett, Randy McMichael and Dante Hall.

But Mok:

- According to all reports, Bruce wasn't a part of Saunders' plans on offense
- But if Saunders' didn't foresee a place for Bruce, the definition of "value" for any contract is greatly lowered. If that value is lowered below Bruce's acceptable perceived value, we get what we get...........a parting of the ways.

Now, the question that does really strike at me is: What is our post-rookie pool cap? I'm certainly no capologist, but IIRC, we had about $10M left going into the draft. Our rookie pool is roughly $6M, which leaves $4M free.

I'm giving the franchise the benefit of the doubt, but if we've got $4M just blowing in the wind, while Bruce is running around the Left Coast...........I get a little twisted in the neck, know what I mean? Now maybe, they're going to use it for locking down FAs (SJ, OJ, etc.), we actually have several of them coming up. If so, fine. But if not......

[Rambos]

I'm giving the franchise the benefit of the doubt, but if we've got $4M just blowing in the wind, while Bruce is running around the Left Coast...........I get a little twisted in the neck, know what I mean? Now maybe, they're going to use it for locking down FAs (SJ, OJ, etc.), we actually have several of them coming up. If so, fine. But if not......

I agree we have too keep an eye on the big picture. I also think Bruce wanted to get as many yards as he can in his last few years. I wish him the best.

[Mooselini]

I wish Bruce the best, but he's wearing the wrong color with the gold.

It sucks, just seeing that really hurts. I have my Bruce jersey on my wall, and I always pull that one down to wear. I like it alot. However, this will be rough on us Rams fans.

I guess from now after a big play by our receiver we can say Drew instead of Bruce......

[moklerman]

- According to all reports, Bruce wasn't a part of Saunders' plans on offense

That troubles me. I like the acquisition of Saunders but if he can't work Bruce into the offense but he can work Bennett, McMichael, etc. into it, then I think it's a problem.

Ultimately, it's going to be pretty difficult for the Rams to do something spectacular enough for me to agree that getting rid of Bruce was the right call.

[Milan]

I've gotten over this. I wasn't a football fan when Bruce was still dominating, I only started watching lately (4 or so years and the 2001 Super Bowl). I know what he's done for the organization and I was mad at first but now I'm over it.

[r8rh8rmike]

I had to get it over with...thoughts.

Thoughts? I think we let an icon go who may have arguably been our best receiver, after setting him up with a contract that was intended to let him retire a Ram. Still a bad move all around IMO.

[Chris58]

I didn't like seeing Bruce go, but if we have $4 million laying around, I like the flexibility it provides the organization. Given we have some personnel issues to settle with existing players' contracts and possible FA pick-ups we're in pretty good shape to take care of business.