Tinoisamoa to the Bears

Lovie Smith signed another former Rams leader this offseason, bringing Pisa Tinoisamoa aboard on a 1-year contract. Tinoisamoa, cut by the Rams last month as a result of Will Witherspoon's move to weakside linebacker, joins Orlando Pace for the 2009 season at Soldier Field.

Tinoisamoa looked like a character risk when the Rams drafted him in 2002, but he turned out to be nothing of the sort, instead setting a Rams record for tackles by a rookie his initial season. He would lead the defense in tackles four times in six years with the Rams. Early in his career he was one of the best hitters the Ram D had, and last year overall was his best season since his rookie year.

Pisa's big hitting came with a price, though. Even as willing to play through injuries as he was - one season he stayed on the field and played one-armed, that is, until he hurt the good arm - he spent a lot of time on the injury report in his career. And despite his high tackle totals, he was frequently out of position on running plays and has been a key reason for big plays the woeful Ram run defense has allowed the last few seasons. The decision to move Witherspoon outside and the draft of James Laurinaitis to take the Mike LB role made Pisa the odd man out. And Pisa was never known as a great special teams contributor or the kind of versatile LB like Chris Draft who could back up multiple positions, so his value to the new-look Rams became very limited.

Given his liabilities in the run game, it's surprising to hear that Pisa's going to start in Chicago, but RamView wishes him the best. Reuniting with Lovie Smith can't be a bad thing for him at this point in his career. He's jumping from a 2-14 rebuilding project to a team whose aspirations for 2009 start with making the playoffs. He's the type of player-warrior who should fit in well in Chicago and who Bears fans should take to right away.

Meanwhile, the offseason scorecard for the Rams? Best wide receiver last year, maybe in team history, gone. Best offensive lineman last year, maybe in team history, gone. And now leading tackler on defense, gone.

I trust Steve Spagnuolo will be smart enough this season not to blame losses on account of not having enough players.