Rams 2013 free agents

Unrestricted:

WR Danny Amendola - the first player on the list is the last one I wrote up because he's the hardest for me to figure out. He's missed more than 20 of his last 32 games, but had an 85-catch season before that, and was on track for at least a 90-catch season this year. I'm inclined to think that's talent that doesn't grow on trees, and Amendola's the rare Rams WR who can actually separate from defenders. But $10.4 million to franchise him? $8.7 for the transition tag? You might be able to get Wes Welker for that. Well, Danny's situation is why Les Snead gets the big bucks and I don't. My guess is to use the transition tag on him. The free agent market at WR isn't deep enough to let him go. The Rams need to add veteran WRs who can get open, not lose them.

QB Kellen Clemens - Doubt he's a threat to go somewhere else unless Brian Schottenheimer makes a surprise move. Adequate veteran depth; Rams should re-sign.

S Craig Dahl - Bye! And Hallelujah!

CB Bradley Fletcher - My early guess is Fletcher will return to St. Louis next season... in a Saints uniform. Bradley was a fine pick by the Spagvaney regime, and should still be a decent, starting-quality player for somebody, as long as his knees don't explode. Again. But it would cost too much to let him languish on the bench here behind Jenkins and TruJo. Let's see if Jeff Fisher can work some more magic with a late-round draft pick at corner.

WR Brandon Gibson - Good kid. Solid team player. Never known to complain about anything. Makes some clutch plays. Can also disappear for entire games and can't separate from anyone to save his life. Gibson's likeable, and I hope he does well at his next stop. But he's just a guy. The scary scenario is that no one in Rams Nation wants him re-signed, but the Rams do it, and he comes out of training camp as the #1 WR AGAIN. I'm willing to let him go just to avoid that possibility, and suspect we're going to get force-fed a lot of "the next T.O." starting in mini-camp.

LB Mario Haggan - Bye! Really did not live up to his reputation as a special teams captain. Quit running into the punter!

DE William Hayes - I'd actually call Hayes the Rams' second-highest priority to get settled, after Steven Jackson. He was a killer off the bench this year with the seven sacks, and played the run damn well, too. He'd be more than a credible starter in the event Chris Long or Robert Quinn get injured. And I'm not on the Eugene Sims bandwagon. The Rams really need to keep Hayes if they can; with luck, Jeff Fisher will be a deciding factor. Those sacks are going to look attractive to a lot of teams, though.

RB Steven Jackson (voidable year)- I'm already on record here many times. The Rams have to find a way to keep Jackson for the next couple of years if they can. Obviously, if a team like Green Bay can drop a money bomb on him, I wouldn't fault him for leaving. Next year's running game will have very little credibility without him, though.

DT Trevor Laws - was on the I.R. all season, so we have no real idea what he can bring. Wouldn't have a problem with giving him another look in training camp, for cheap.

LB Rocky McIntosh - serviceable but nowhere near the playmaker he was about 3 years ago. I'm expecting the Rams to make a high draft move at linebacker; they don't have to go to great lengths to keep McIntosh. He's a better LB all-around than Haggan, so maybe you keep him around at the league minimum to come off the bench.

OT Barry Richardson - good run-blocker. Bad pass-protector. The Rams need to open up the offense beyond the max-protect they ran almost the whole game in Seattle, and they can't do that given B-Rich's poor ability to handle edge speed. Kind of the Brandon Gibson of OTs. You really don't want to have to come out of training camp with B-Rich as your #1 guy, but, four months later, the guy's your starter the entire season. I wouldn't re-sign him; the Rams would still have Wayne Hunter, possibly Chris Williams, and possibly a high draft pick. But I think the Rams will be more careful than I'm being and bring him back.

WR Steve Smith. Bye! By far the worst signing of Les Snead's first offseason.

OL Rob Turner - pleasant surprise this year and would be a valuable "glue guy" to have back because he was credible at guard and center. Rams should try hard to retain him.

OL Chris Williams- I don't think he will be back, but he sure looked good for stretches of the Seattle game and would be worth a second look. I think he'll get better chances with other teams, though, Arizona being a strong candidate.

Restricted:
LB Justin Cole, S Darian Stewart.
Important signings for the Rams to get right; they need to re-sign both Cole and Stewart. They are valuable special teams players and Stewart should be considered the starting free safety as of, oh, RIGHT NOW.

Exclusive Rights:
OL Tim Barnes, LB Sammy Brown, DT Jermelle Cudjo, TE Mike McNeill
I don't know if that's right for Cudjo; he was also an ERFA last year. Cudjo is an important player for the Rams to keep, though. He was a valuable part of the DT rotation and made a solid number of run stops. None of the others should be hard to keep, and are worth bringing back.

Rams in final year of contract in 2013:
Rodger Saffold and Jo-Lonn Dunbar are the two big names. Also Josh Hull, Matthew Mulligan and Eugene Sims. I'd like to see more consistency from Saffold before the Rams drop the big money on him, but he's likely to get it. Hope it's a big year for him.

-$-