Sunday, March 16, 2014

More Rams on the move


ESPN

Nothing very new here - just trying to keep the blog caught up...

* Cortland Finnegan, Miami, 2 years, $11 million. Yet another surprisingly expensive deal for a Ram, but unlike the average Rodger Saffold and the average-at-best Chris Williams, Finnegan was terrible last season. He didn't look like he'd lost a step; he looked like he lost five steps. He couldn't cover or tackle anyone. The Rams were never terribly up front about the amount of injuries Finnegan played with, though; if he bounces back in Miami, don't be too surprised. Finnegan's signing is also going to gain the Rams another $2-3 million against the salary cap per the terms of his deal here.

* Shelley Smith, also Miami, 2 years, $5.5 million. Yet ANOTHER guard leaves Rams Park. Miami knows Smith was a backup here, right? He'll fit great if they're trying to become a smashmouth offense. If they need him to protect Ryan Tannehill, things may not work out. Meanwhile, the Rams' roster hole at left guard gets ever larger.

* Mike McNeill, Carolina, 2 years, $not disclosed. The local product (Kirkwood) was not tendered by the Rams as an exclusive rights free agent. Neither, to my knowledge, was Quinton Pointer.

* Last and certainly least, OF COURSE the Rams had Kenny Britt in for a free-agency visit. After all, what's not to love? The injuries? Britt hasn't been the same since tearing an ACL in 2011. The unreliability on the field? Britt dropped a lot of passes, ran poor routes, committed stupid penalties and went entire games without even being targeted. Yet he was the one tweeting that the Titans were cutting back his snaps to keep him from being pursued as a free agent, calling it the "Jared Cook treatment". How about off the field? Britt has been "involved with police" NINE TIMES in his pro career, including a car chase, resisting arrest and attempting to cover up a friend's involvement in a stabbing.

Britt is getting interest from several other teams, including the Redskins and Patriots, and he left Rams Park without a contract. If the Rams are smart, Jeff Fisher was just paying Britt a professional courtesy, and the disaster waiting to happen won't happen to the Rams.

-$-

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