Rams cut five veterans

The Rams released several veteran players Monday to clear salary cap space for the opening of free agency tomorrow. The cap victims:

* Ron Bartell
* James Hall
* Fred Robbins
* Justin Bannan
* Jason Brown

The moves clear a total of $16 million of salary cap space.

Mainly special teams players, WR Nick Miller and LB David Nixon have also been released.

Yep, there's a new sheriff in town. Apparently a pretty new defensive line, too. Your starting tackles right now are Gary Gibson and Darell Dorell Scott.
Oops, Gibson is a free agent. So, Darell Dorell and... nobody.

Bartell becomes the latest victim of the way the NFL does business. Coming off a neck fracture, he's not likely to get anything close to what he was scheduled to make with the Rams. If the Rams re-sign anyone they cut today, he would seem the most likely, at the veteran minimum. Or maybe the Rams are going with my unposted shoot-the-moon CB proposal - sign Courtland Finnegan and try to draft Morris Claiborne.

Hall, Robbins and Bannan are all in their mid-30s. Robbins' play slipped pretty far last season, but Hall and Bannan seemed to get the job done as rotational players. Jason Brown's release is completely unsurprising; he was one of the poorest offensive linemen in the league last year.

The Rams should go into the opening of free agency $20-22 million under the cap.

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