Bulger, Carriker signed!

Exciting and good news from Rams Park that the team has signed
Marc Bulger to a richly-deserved contract extension and has also
gotten first-round pick Adam Carriker signed to a deal. stltoday.com article

Bulger's contract is 6 years, $63 million, which means I damn near nailed
it with my guess on Wednesday.

Sounds like I short-changed Carriker with my previous estimate, though.
With Marshawn Lynch getting $19M at #12 and Lawrence Timmons getting
$15M at #15, Adam's probably in the $17.5M neighborhood, vs. my guess
of $14M. All we know right now is that it's a 5-year deal. Adam has agreed
to it but hasn't signed it, so he's missing the first day of camp. Looks like
I'll get to see his camp debut tomorrow.

Great work by the Rams front office, getting everyone in camp essentially
on time, and getting Bulger locked up with a contract that's reasonable in
the current market without breaking the bank.

Zygmunt: Bulger priority #1

Jay Zygmunt wisely identifies signing Marc Bulger to a contract extension
as the front office's #1 priority right now: stltoday.com article

Well, wait: what about signing Adam Carriker?

Anyway, the article mentions that the Rams have offered Bulger, currently
the 11th-highest paid QB in the league, a contract that would make him
one of the highest-paid QBs in the league and the highest-paid Ram ever.

Any way you slice it, the distinction of highest-paid Ram ever currently
belongs to Orlando Pace. The 7-year, $53 million contract he's on right
now is the largest total Ram contract I'm aware of. His $6 million base salary
in 2004 is the largest in team history, as was his total salary of $18M
in 2005, which included $15M+ in bonuses.

Using the recent 6-year/$60M deals for both Tom Brady and Drew Brees,
I figure Marc'll average no worse than $10M a year over his deal, and his
agent wouldn't be crazy to ask for $12M. Bulger's age, 30, is important, too,
with regards to the length of the contract. He'd probably want 6-7 years.

This would be a big jump over Pace, but the salary cap has really ballooned,
too: the Rams and Bulger ought to be able to agree on a contract in the
six-year, $mid-sixties range. If things break down, that's the gauge I'm
going to use to decide if the Rams are being cheap or Bulger's being greedy.

Brian Leonard signs

The Rams have signed RB Brian Leonard to a 4-year contract.
stltoday.com article

With Stephen Davis gone, Leonard plays a critical role for the Rams as
a back who can keep bashing the defense while giving Steven Jackson
some rest. As with Jackson, I think Leonard is initially going to surprise
a lot of defenders with his speed as well. Good that he'll be in camp
on time.

The article also mentions that the team is meeting with Adam Carriker's
representatives today, so hopefully that deal is close to getting done as well.

Re-estimating the Carriker contract

As a handful of 2007 first-rounders are signed, and the Rams, in sheeplike fashion,
wait for the picks around Adam Carriker to be signed, I see that my first estimate
of his contract is off by a country mile. Turns out Kamerion Wimbley's contract is
much different than most rookie contracts and is a very bad one to use as a baseline.

Let's use Haloti Ngata's, then, with the additional bonus that he's a DT just like
Carriker. He signed a 5-year, $11.9 million contract last year, with about $9.3M
guaranteed. Three picks later, Tye Hill came in at 5 years, $10.2M, $7.7M guaranteed.

Enter this year's #15 pick, Lawrence Timmons, signed by the Steelers, who have all
their picks in camp on time. CBS Sportsline reports he's getting 8% more bonus money
and 19% more total contract money than Hill.

Assuming it's a 5-year contract, then, Carriker's probably looking at a contract in the
neighborhood of $14M total, $10M guaranteed.

Let's quit screwing around, make it happen, and get the man in camp.

Training camp reports

I'm hoping to hit training camp on the following dates:

Sat. 7/28 - 3:00
Sun. 7/29 - 9:20
Fri. 8/3 - 3:00
Sun. 8/12 - 3:00

I think the best day to be at training camp will be for the
intrasquad scrimmage on 8/4, but I unfortunately have a
prior commitment that day.

All contingent on weather, my ability to drag my carcass
out of bed, etc.

Rams sign more draft picks

A busy weekend in Rams news includes the signing of the rest of the day 2
draft picks: Dustin Fry, Clint Ryan and Ken Shackleford. That leaves the
top two picks, Adam Carriker and Brian Leonard. Let me say right now, if the
Rams screw around and wait for Buffalo to sign Marshawn Lynch (#12) and
the Jets to sign Darrelle Revis (#14) so they can make Carriker an offer,
they're doing him and the team a great disservice. The Rams HAVE to hit
the ground running with Carriker, and that starts with having him in camp on time.

Ryan has a legitimate shot at a roster spot behind Carriker, while the Rams'
offensive line looks deep enough for Fry and Shackleford to both end up on
on the practice squad. The problem is, if another team swipes them off the
Rams' practice squad, the Rams have basically wasted a draft pick. Might be
best to keep at least Fry on the main roster, though the Fakhir Brown suspension
tightens up the roster by forcing the Rams to keep a DB around whom they
might not otherwise.

Fakhir Brown suspended 4 weeks; 2 for Wroten?

CB Fakhir Brown got a four-game suspension from the league over the weekend
for an unspecified violation of the substance abuse policy. (My guess: weed.)
Assuming his appeal fails, the pressure will be on Tye Hill and partner to contain
Steve Smith week 1, Darrell Jackson week 2, Joey Galloway week 3, and oh crap,
T.O. and Terry Glenn week 4. Throwing in Jason Witten makes week 4 look like
an awful good week to start Tony Romo in your fantasy league.

None of those first three WRs are size guys, though, and I think Tye Hill can handle
them. No, he's not going to hold Steve Smith to 2 catches for 20 yards, but neither
should he give up 9 catches, 180 yards, 3 TDs. A positive of the Brown suspension
is the potential for it to become Tye's moment to shine.

Same for Ron Bartell, who'd certainly be a candidate for #2 CB the first four weeks.
My guess, though, knowing Jim Haslett's affinity for veterans, is that Lenny Walls
gets most of the snaps and is the Opening Day starter, with Bartell as the nickel.
That's not the best combination they can throw out there, thanks to Brown's
off-field stupidity, but they don't necessarily have to get shelled for 350 yards a
week, either. Though I'm dreading Dallas.

On the topic of suspensions, I can't believe Claude Wroten or Dominique Byrd would
be looking at any worse than two weeks from the commissioner's office, in light of
Sam Brandon getting 2 for domestic violence, which is worse than what Wroten will
be charged with, and Jared Allen (2nd DUI) getting his suspension reduced to 2 weeks.
I'd originially thought Wroten and Byrd would be up for 4-week suspensions, but there's
obviously some wiggle room.

Chris Chandler wins something!

In case his whole 2004 season had you wondering what the heck Chris Chandler
is exactly supposed to be good at, we learned the answer this weekend.

Celebrity golf.

Chandler won the American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament in Tahoe this
weekend, shooting a 67, which helped him land a winning modified Stableford
score of 78. Just under his career QB rating of 79.1. Mark Rypien, also a
former Ram QB, finished fourth.

Chandler won $125,000 for his victory. I think I caused that much property
damage watching him the time he lobbed six picks in Carolina...

I have a feeling the Dome won't do very well

sportsillustrated.cnn.com is running a poll right now to determine which NFL team offers the best fan experience. It's mostly questions about your team's stadium and gameday atmosphere.

There's no way the Rams are going to score well at this. The Edward Jones Dome, designed to be all-purpose and generic, has mastered generic blandness, right down to the changeable name of the facility. The poll asked for something that makes your team's stadium unique, and I couldn't think of a thing. Generic blandness pervades the Dome, to the concession stands, to the halftime entertainment, and certainly into the stands, at least to those fans who haven't actually sold their tickets to aficionados of the visiting team or gone home with 9:00 still left in the game.

I'm dumb enough to think/hope the new video screens and improved sound will help raise the excitement level in the stands. The team is certainly poised for an exciting season. Atmosphere at this year's games is clearly in the crowd's hands. Let's hope they don't spend all season sitting on them.

Why is St. Louis a baseball town? Besides the 100-year tradition, that is, their baseball team plays in a baseball stadium. Their football team, on the other hand, plays in a convention center. They replace the FieldTurf every year now so they can have motocrosses and boat shows.

St. Louis got itself back a football team in 1995; that was a very big win. The bandwagon overflowed from 1999-2001. The next step, though, becoming a town that's dedicated to football, win or lose, is proving elusive.

Bulger's bank account needs a boost - Fox Sports

I can't say I disagree with this article one bit.

So what the hell's the holdup? The Rams have the cap room. They have tons of money. They should have a very good idea what the rookie class is going to get paid. Marc clearly wants to stay, and his agent's not Carl Poston. (Poston would probably ask double-Peyton-Manning money for Bulger.)

Excerpt from the article:

Could the team leader hold out of training camp?

"We'll see if that will happen," Bulger said. "I don't think that will happen. But you never know. I don't want to rule anything out. The Rams have been good to me. I've been here my entire career. I hope it will work out."

I'll say right now, that if Marc Bulger decides to holds out, assuming his demands are reasonable, it'll
be the first time I'll ever approve a Ram player holdout. And I ripped Marshall Faulk in 1999.

Other than Bulger making Poston his agent, which he of course hasn't done, I can't even come up
with a comedy reason that his deal hasn't been extended by now.

Get it done, John Shaw. Yesterday.

Keith Jackson signed

The Rams signed Keith Jackson to a three-year contract on Monday, so
both 7th-rounders are aboard now. stlouisrams.com

Five draft picks remain to be signed: Carriker (1), Leonard (2), Fry(4),
Ryan (5), Shackleford(6).

Jackson and Ryan, along with one of last year's preseason favorites, Tim
Sandidge, are expected to compete for a backup spot behind Adam Carriker
at what's popularly being called the nose tackle position.

Jackson's got a great shot at making the team, certainly a better shot than
many 7th-rounders ever have. The Rams are weak at the position and he's
competing with essentially two other rookies. And right now I don't know how
much the team should count on Claude Wroten's ability to stay out of trouble.

If Jackson shows the heart and hustle he seemed to be known for as a
Razorback, he'll hit the practice squad at worst and has a legitimate shot
to make the regular roster.

Rams' most indispensable

1. Steven Jackson. I wonder how many people know he had more offensive yards
than LT last year. He's as valuable to this offense as Marshall was to the GSOE,
and he's already putting up similar numbers. And his backup is just a rookie.

2. Marc Bulger. Definite Pro Bowler and probably one of the three best QBs in
the league, but he's not the focus of Scott Linehan's offense, and Gus Frerotte
is a serviceable and somewhat proven backup.

3. Torry Holt. As much as anybody on this team, the Rams go as Torry goes. Their
worst games have been the ones where the offensive plan inexplicably doesn't look
for him. When the Rams don't get Torry going early and often, they're more often
than not in for a bad day.

4. Jeff Wilkins. Like I said in the entry about the NFL's most indispensable, a clutch
veteran kicker is worth his weight in gold. How would your stomach feel with Remy
Hamilton lining up a 39-yarder to win the game?

5. Leonard Little. Lord help the Ram defense when it doesn't have Leonard at 100%.
He's been their only real pass rusher for what, three years? James Hall should help
this year, but even then, if LL were out, the Rams would get so little pass rush
Haslett would be better off dropping 11 guys into coverage.

6. Will Witherspoon. The Ram defense can't afford to lose much; it certainly can't
afford to lose a playmaker of Will's quality.

7. Adam Carriker. The Rams are relying heavily on the Nebraska rookie to come in
and contribute immediately. With the Claude Wroten saga playing as we speak,
the Rams absolutely have to get Adam in training camp on time.

8. Pisa Tinoisamoa. The noticeably-bad defense dropped off even more noticeably
when 5-0 was unable to go last year. He's a lot of the defense's heart, and the
guy likeliest to be the defensive tone-setter.

9. Orlando Pace. Don't mistake this as a slight to Pace. It's a tribute to the youngsters'
fine performance down the stretch last year without him and to the unit's depth. And
now with a healthy OP joining the young battle-tested line that closed out last season,
they have a shot at becoming something truly special.

10. Drew Bennett. I wouldn't want to have to rely on Dante Hall too much as a receiver.
And Bennett's being counted on so much as a red zone weapon right now, the Rams
can't afford him becoming a fumble-fingered free-agent bust they can't rely on. I think
the offense would lose confidence if he doesn't get off to a good start.

Honorable mentions: Tye Hill, Randy McMichael, Mark Setterstrom, Isaac Bruce, Dante Hall

NFL's most indispensable

espn.com ran a list of the NFL's 10 most indispensable players today,
so I thought I'd take my own stab at it.

If indispensable = the player his team can least afford to lose this season,
here are my choices.

1. Peyton Manning. His leadership and brilliance cover up a lot that is wrong with
the Super Bowl champs. They're about as deep at RB as the Rams are at DT, and
I don't see Jim Sorgi or a run defense WORSE THAN THE RAMS' LAST YEAR making
up the difference if Peyton ever gets hurt.

2. Drew Brees. He's not even top 10? Do you see Jamie Martin coming in off the
sideline and the Saint offense not missing a beat? With Brees out, opposing defenses
would stack against the run, and the Saint defense doesn't have the big-play
ability to compensate for the downgrade at QB.

3. Frank Gore. Even with Darrell Jackson aboard, there's no way the Whiner passing
game could make up for losing Gore, who's their whole offense. Their defense should
carry them to a few wins this season, but Gore would still be a crushing loss.

4. LaDainian Tomlinson. It's just silly not to have the NFL's best player on this list.
He's the reason San Diego is a playoff team. They could afford to lose Antonio Gates
a lot sooner than they could afford to lose LT, Michael Turner or no.

5. Carson Palmer. He was nowhere near 100% and still got the Bengals to a
respectable 8-8 record last year. With Palmer at 100%, the Bengal offense is
the next best thing to the GSOE.

6. Larry Johnson. I know he had 400 million carries last year, and the Chiefs appear
prepared to rely on him exclusively for offense this season. The problem is, they don't
have an offensive line anymore. LJ's going to have more games like last year's playoff
in Indy. KC's depleted o-line makes LJ less valuable, and therefore less indispensable.

7. Tom Brady. Brady's one of the best, so he's worth listing, but the Patriots are good
enough to win many ways without him. Hey, they won one Super Bowl with him turning
in probably the worst performance ever by a Super Bowl "MVP", didn't they?

8. Clinton Portis. Hey, 10-6 in 2005 with him, 5-11 in 2006 without him. If he's back
100%, the 'Skins are 2007's surprise team.

9. Devin Hester. Seriously, with Grossman still running the offense and Thomas Jones
shipped to the Jets, the Bears may need a lot of TDs out of this guy to return to the
Super Bowl.

10. Jeff Wilkins, Josh Brown, et al. If you're a fan of a team with a solid, clutch veteran
kicker, go thank God for that guy right now. Because if your kicker gets hurt this season,
there is bupkus out there to replace him. And that can dramatically change your team's
fortunes.

Comparing with Jeff Chadiha's list:
Brian Urlacher: I left him off mainly because the Bears have a ton of defensive talent;
Antonio Gates: Extremely valuable and his absence would retard the Charger passing
game by a lot, but no way is he San Diego's most indispensable player over LT;
Julius Peppers: A good pick for having 1/3 of Carolina's sacks, I might have thought
about him longer if I thought the Panthers were a league-dominating offense;
Michael Vick: Yeah, he's so valuable, most football fans today feel the Falcons
would be better off without him;
Walter Jones: overrated;
Champ Bailey: great player, but this season he has a Pro Bowl-quality counterpart
in Dre Bly.

The Rams' stars - Bulger and Jackson - don't make this list because they're both capable
of making up for the other's absence. They'll be on my list of the most indispensable
Rams coming out in a few minutes, though, inconsistent with this list, Jeff Wilkins
won't be on the top...

Wroten F's up

By now, it's old news that DT Claude Wroten was arrested last week
for kicking in the door of his (ex-)girlfriend's apartment, a misdemeanor to
join last year's marijuana possession charge that knocked him down two
rounds in the draft. If he's found guilty of the charge of destruction of
property, I fully expect him to get a 4-week suspension from Roger
Goodell along with whatever niceties he has coming from Louisiana's
judicial system.

Goodell should suspend Wroten if he's found guilty. He'd deserve it. This
isn't his first run-in with the law recently. And the NFL cannot tolerate
an image of its players physically intimidating women. Claude's a hair-drag
down the stairs short of being Lawrence Phillips right now, and even though
he's short of that distasteful distinction, he's still the knucklehead he was
when the Rams drafted him.

That's the chance the Rams took drafting a knucklehead, and they pumped
up the risk this offseason by planning to rely on Wroten a lot more in the
DT rotation. Now, even if Wroten gets off without a suspension, the Rams
are going to have to get a plan B, or better, in place so they can tolerate
his next inevitable screwup. They're probably pumping their fists in Carolina;
Kris Jenkins' plummeting trade price probably is on the way back up.

Thanks, Claude.

Add in Dominique Byrd's December bar fight and March DUI, and it hasn't
been a sterling off-season for the third round of the Rams' 2006 draft class.
Byrd's actions are exactly the kind that make NFL players look bad, exactly
the kind of thing Goodell intends to drop the hammer on. (Wroten's actions,
too, for that matter.) He also seems at risk of some kind of league suspension,
and deserves such if he's found guilty. The thing with Byrd is, (huh, my
Pandora.com's playing "Tush" right now), he's a lot more expendable than
Wroten is at DT because of the acquisition of Randy McMichael, and he
could just get cut.

Character still counts, and it'd behoove the Rams to (re-)remember that
on future draft days.

Draft signings / 5th WR competition

The Bears became the first team to sign a first- (or second-) round pick
from this year's draft by signing TE Greg Olson to a 5-year, $10.7 million
contract.

I don't know how valid this extrapolation is, but if you compare Kelly Jennings'
(#31 in 2006) contract to Kamerion Wimbley's (#13) last year and Olson's
(#31 this year), I figure Adam Carriker's (#13) contract will be in the area
of 26.5 mil for six years with a 10.5 mil bonus. But I am far from a guru at that stuff.

The Rams have already signed 3rd-rounder CB Jonathan Wade and 7th-rounder
KR/WR Derek Stanley. Wade's expected to compete for the 4th CB spot behind
Tye Hill, Fakhir Brown and Ron Bartell, and boy, if he doesn't beat out Mike Rumph,
I think we can say that's a pick that's not working out well.

Stanley is probably competing with Marques Hagans (remember him?) for a spot
on the practice squad, but it's not out of the question for either to become the
5th WR. Dane Looker's good work as Jeff Wilkins' holder kept him very safe last
year, but Donnie Jones used to hold for Olindo Mare at Miami. The position between
Looker, Hagans and Stanley probably comes down to who contributes best at WR,
as Dante Hall's backup returning punts, and on kick coverage teams. At the moment,
those are all advantage: Looker.