Thursday, February 12, 2009

Free agency preview preview

Chip Rosenbloom has overhauled the Rams' front office and turned it over to Billy Devaney.
Devaney has overhauled the head coach's office, putting Steve Spagnuolo in charge.
And as I've detailed earlier this week, Spagnuolo has overhauled the coaching staff.
For the St. Louis Rams, it's a whole new era in the front office and on the sideline.

With the opening of free agency on February 27th, the new era for the Rams on the field begins.
The big questions will be the futures of the last stalwarts of the Super Bowl XXXIV champions: Orlando Pace and Torry Holt. Their large cap numbers make them attractive targets for the unsentimental knife of the NFL capologist. Other veterans throughout the team are likely cut targets, though not as significant monetarily or historically as those two St. Louis all-time greats.

Another key date is next Thursday, the 19th: teams have to use their franchise tags by that date. This most likely affects O.J. Atogwe but could factor into negotiations with Ron Bartell as well. The front office should be very busy the next week securing the future of the Ram secondary.

But Pace, Holt, Atogwe and Bartell are far from the only players the Rams will be making decisions on in the coming days. With that in mind, RamView will start a position-by-position breakdown of the team and available free agents, while hoping to offer helpful advice on what the Rams need to do, and might actually do, on the field to turn the tide of the past few seasons.

No comments: