Rude awakenings

With free agency set to kick off in less than a week now, excitement has been building in Rams Nation over what new players the team will pick up to address its problem areas. The team itself seemed to intimate it would be an active player in the free agent market. I've been doing UFA breakdowns by position and trying to guess who the Rams will target and who they might be able to pick up.

I've been way too optimistic, based on news that came to light last week. I'm hard-pressed to say where it went, but the Rams have run practically out of cap room. They are less than $7 million under the cap, far worse shape than any of Rams Nation or the local press ever anticipated. And most of that money will be needed to tender OJ Atogwe and to sign the 2008 rookie class.

As a result, we could be headed toward one of the franchise's uneasiest weeks since coming to St. Louis. To get any cap room to sign free agents, the team will want to restructure the contracts of Isaac Bruce and Leonard Little. Both are due significant bonus payments very soon, which the team never intends to pay. Either, or both, are very likely to be cut if a way around each man's bonuses isn't found.

The Rams have to do everything possible to keep Bruce, though, to avoid disaster on every level. On the field, Isaac is still clearly the second-best receiver on the team. The Rams CANNOT cut Isaac Bruce under the guise that they had to in favor of keeping Drew Bennett, who isn't now, and will never be, even 1/10 the receiver Isaac is. And a team that's going to have a ton of trouble selling tickets next year can't afford the apocalyptic P.R. disaster they'd invite by failing to keep Isaac. In St. Louis, he's the original face of the Ram franchise and is arguably the city's most-loved player. Cutting the man isn't the way to treat a lifelong Ram, an original L.A. Ram, and the greatest WR to wear a Ram uniform. Compounding the disaster, Isaac seems likely to join the Rams' worst rival, San Francisco, to reunite with Mike Martz, if he isn't permitted to play out his career as a Ram. The Rams absolutely cannot open the door for that to happen. It would be the equivalent of sending Stan Musial to the Chicago Cubs. It must be avoided. Isaac is a team player, and may very well "play ball" in negotiations as he did last year when the Rams unceremoniously cut him. But the Rams can't take more than a minuscule chance of losing him. I say, just honor the contract.

Leonard Little is in a different boat. Like Isaac, he's a lifelong Ram and one of the greats to play his position for this team. But he's also due a ridiculous bonus, had a terrible 2007 (one sack), and is still recovering from a toe injury that only compounds the idea that his best years are behind him at age 35. It would be great to have a healthy Little back. After all, no one on the team besides Will Witherspoon is remotely a proven pass rusher. But at his age and physical condition, he warrants a much smaller salary now than he's been getting. If the Rams do cut Little, and he goes to Buffalo or Carolina or even Seattle, where they love to collect ex-Ram DEs, it'll be nothing like it would be to cut Bruce. Unlike Bruce, the Rams wouldn't be cutting Little in order to keep a far inferior player, and in the minds of many St. Louisans, Little is always going to be the drunk driver who took a woman's life, making his potential release a P.R. wash at the worst.

The two men are in similar contract situations, but the Rams front office has to be smart enough to realize they have to be handled differently. They have the upper ground on Little and can't be afraid of flexing their muscles. Restructuring Little alone frees up a lot of cap space. With Bruce, though, they'd better make sure to tread lightly and not antagonize him or his legion of fans, or the only attendance streak we'll be talking about for a long time around here is the NON-sellout streak.

The Rams can comfortably cut/restructure Little, and cut Gus Frerotte (disappointingly bad), Corey Chavous (poor player) and LeRoi Glover (could be about to be replaced by Glenn Dorsey) before they even think about doing something drastic to #80.