Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Rams sign James Butler

The strong safety got a 4-year, contract worth up to $17 million (Bill Coats) and the Rams got, we hope, the decent in-the-box run defender they've lacked since about 1999.

And the secondary continues to take shape:
SS - Butler backed up by Todd Johnson
FS - OJ Atogwe backed up by Classy Eric Bassie, David Roach
CB - Ron Bartell, Jonathan Wade, Tye Hill, Justin King, Quincy Butler

But at CB, there's still a lot of shaping up to do. According to kffl.com, there are plenty of UFA CBs still out there, including Dre Bly, Leigh Bodden, Chris McAlister, Chris Gamble, Karl Paymah, Keiwan Ratliff, Justin Miller and Eric Green, among others. There's also the Rams' "own" UFAs in Jason Craft, who they're reportedly trying to retain, Ricky Manning Jr. and (gulp) Fakhir Brown.

At a minimum they need to sign Craft to play nickel. I'm crossing my fingers they can also add a cheap veteran to start alongside Bartell. However, if that means bringing Brown back, I'd just as soon let Wade and Hill fight it out for the other starting spot in training camp. As good a time as any to find out what exactly Wade's got and/or if Hill can bounce back from his 2008 debacle.

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