Trade was no surprise to Carriker
BY JIM THOMAS
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
04/26/2010
Adam Carriker could see it coming, long before the initial speculation surfaced that he might be traded to the Washington Redskins.
"I suppose it's always a surprise when you get traded," the defensive lineman said. "But I know there'd been talks, even before it got out to the media. I knew the talks had gone on, so I wasn't shocked."
Rumor became reality last Tuesday, when Carriker was traded to the Redskins. The deal involved only a switch of fifth-round and seventh-round picks by the clubs; the Rams got no extra players or compensation for Carriker, a first-round draft pick out of Nebraska in 2007.
The current Rams coaching staff gave up on Carriker even though it saw very little of him on the field. Carriker was just coming back from shoulder surgery when he suffered an ankle injury 10 days into coach Steve Spagnuolo's first Rams training camp last summer. Carriker had just returned from the ankle injury when he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury — requiring surgery — in the 2009 preseason finale.
"It is what it is," Carriker said. "I guess they felt like they got a good enough look at me."
Carriker says he's excited about the new career challenge that lies ahead in Washington under veteran NFL head coach Mike Shanahan.
"We've struggled here the last few years in St. Louis," Carriker said. "No disrespect to the Rams, but all of a sudden I'm on a team that's made a lot of offseason moves. They're being talked about as a contender, and everybody's excited about the team."
Carriker spent a few days in Washington last week following the trade. He was back in St. Louis when he spoke with the Post-Dispatch in a phone interview but heads back to the nation's capital this week to participate in the Redskins' offseason conditioning program.
He talked to Shanahan for only a couple of minutes while in Washington last week. "They were getting ready for the draft," Carriker said.
But he'll been reunited in Washington with defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, who was Rams coordinator for two of Carriker's three seasons in St. Louis. "Coach Haz is a good coach," Carriker said.
In Washington, Carriker will play end in the Redskins' 3-4 alignment, which is considered a more natural position for him than defensive tackle in the Rams' 4-3. But But Carriker took mild offense to being typecast as a 3-4 end only.
"I played nose guard here (in St. Louis) my first year and did well at that," he said. "Sometimes I'd play nose guard, (3-technique) defensive tackle, and end all in one series. That happened against San Francisco. You didn't know where you were lining up until...
-04-26-2010, 10:38 PM
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