Now Greco's gone and Bell's back

So much for the Rams-are-going-with-maulers-at-guard theory. That started to fall apart in my mind when I saw Jacob Bell signing autographs after practice yesterday. That had to mean he was at a minimum still negotiating a new, cap-friendly deal with the team, and they have in fact re-signed him.

John Greco was apparently just the fallback if the Rams couldn't get Bell signed, because they have now traded him to Pat Shurmur and the Browns pretty much for a bag of jockstraps. For the former third-round pick, the Rams will get just a seventh-rounder from the Browns, and that's only if he starts.

I'm not a fan of this trade, though it's not a surprise, because you never really got the impression the current Ram regime are big Greco fans. Of course, I'm not sure he ever got through a training camp healthy, either, kind of a bad knock for an offensive lineman. The trade doesn't exactly leave the Rams with quality depth at guard, either, though you figure now they're working to sign Adam Goldberg to back Bell and Harvey Dahl up.

The Rams should get good pass protection from the position this season with Dahl and Bell as the starters. Pro Football Focus ranked both of them well last season in that category, and a large reason a Greco movement never got going at Rams Park was because they never quite trusted him as a pass protector. And good protection for Sam Bradford is definitely good news. But they've also taken a step away from the Rams having the tough, mauling, run-blockers starting on this year's o-line I had hoped they'd have.

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