Amid news of Steve Young's retirement, the Redskins' overt attempt to buy a title and the legal battles of prominent NFL players this offseason, precious little has been heard from the St. Louis Rams.
|  | | The Rams have managed to keep Kurt Warner's contract talks quiet, but that could change. |
You know, the team that won the Super Bowl in January?
Surely, you remember the Rams. Good-guy coach Dick Vermeil finally winning a title and then abruptly retiring. Squeaky-clean quarterback Kurt Warner morphing from Arena League nobody to NFL Most Valuable Player. The NFC's
losingest team of the 1990s going from 4-12 in 1998 to 16-3, including the victory over the Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV. It was the feel-good story of the decade.
Unfortunately, fame in the salary-capped NFL is fleeting. Almost since the day they motored through St. Louis on their victory parade, the Rams have
been pushed off the NFL's front page by more pressing matters, many involving teams that are trying to overtake them.
In today's NFL, offseason player movement is a fact of life for every team. However, it has had a negligible effect so far in St. Louis, where 20
of the 22 starters are scheduled to return.
Indeed, the worst thing that happened to the Rams since the Super Bowl is that their end-zone dance was banned by the NFL.
The offseason didn't start out uneventful for the Rams. The Vince Lombardi trophy hadn't even found its final resting place when Vermeil retired. Like everything else about the Rams in recent years, however, they were prepared. They quickly promoted offensive coordinator Mike Martz to head coach and
haven't been heard from since.
Take heart, Rams fans, your heroes haven't dropped off the face of the Earth. In fact, their disappearing act is probably for the best.
When it comes to defending Super Bowl champions, no news is often good news. The less eventful the offseason, the more likely a championship team is to repeat.
That's because the rules these days conspire to topple dynasties even as they're being built. For a Super Bowl team, a title is the beginning of the end. The league forces immediately go to work on its roster, picking it clean of role players, stripping it of its depth and leaving only a handful of stars surrounded by cap-friendly no-names. Meanwhile, the schedule always gets more difficult.
That combination has brought down the 49ers, Cowboys and Packers since 1994, when the salary-cap era began. It happened to the Broncos, too,
although John Elway's retirement hastened the process.
It's simply too tough for a team to stay on top in the salary-cap era. Most Super Bowl appearances are followed by an offseason filled with contract
holdouts, free-agent defections and me-first money-grabs by marginal players seeking renegotiated deals.
The Rams haven't avoided all of those pitfalls. Compared to recent Super Bowl winners, however, their offseason has been positively tranquil.
They've been lucky because there was potential for the Rams to follow the path of the Cowboys and Packers. Since January, they've diffused a possible
quarterback controversy, kept potentially nasty contract negotiations with Warner, cornerback Todd Lyght and defensive end Kevin Carter in-house, restocked an offensive line that lost two starters and backed up themselves in key spots so they don't take a dive like the Falcons did last year. And they've done it all without ruining their salary-cap structure.
The biggest offseason challenge was resolving the quarterback situation. Warner's emergence came only after high-priced free agent quarterback Trent Green tore up his knee last preseason. Now that Green is returning to health, some thought the Rams would trade his large salary so they could give Warner a contract he deserves.
Warner will make only $358,000 this season and, understandably, wants a long-term deal, reportedly with a $15 million signing bonus. He and the Rams
are in the talking stage, but as an exclusive rights free agent, Warner has no leverage short of boycotting training camp.
Regardless, the Rams' braintrust of Martz, general manager Charley Armey and president Jay Zygmunt decided to keep Green on at least through the 2000
season for $3.5 million. Martz reaffirmed that Warner is his starter, but in the event Warner holds out, is injured or proves to be a fluke, the Rams will
still have Green around.
The big question is whether the Rams can break the bank for Warner, keep Green and still have enough salary-cap space to take care of Lyght, an
unrestricted free agent who carries a "transition" tag, and three key players in the final year of their contracts: Carter, wide receiver Isaac Bruce and linebacker Mike Jones.
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“ |
It's a beginning,
not an ending. I think we can keep this team together for some time. And, shoot, we'll
just make a run at it. ” |
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— New Rams coach Mike Martz |
If they can't keep everyone happy, the Rams' tranquil offseason could get hectic in a hurry. Lyght has already said he won't report to camp without a contract, Carter has threatened a holdout and Warner's agent has hinted at it.
The Rams lost only two starters to free agency, both in the offensive line. However, they felt good enough about their options, and the money they saved
under the salary cap, to let both center Mike Gruttadauria and tackle Fred
Miller sign elsewhere.
Rather than cough up big bucks to Miller, a solid right tackle when he's not blocking Jevon Kearse, they let him go to the Titans. The Rams believe youngster Ryan Tucker can step in with no drop-off. When Tucker, a restricted
free agent, signed an offer sheet with the Dolphins, St. Louis quickly matched it for far less against the cap than it would have cost to retain Miller.
The Rams also had a ready replacement when Gruttadauria bolted to the Cardinals. They think Andy McCollum, who has started in emergency situations in the past, is capable of playing full-time.
The elevation of two reserves stripped the line of its depth, so the Rams signed center Steve Everitt, a long-time starter in the league who had fallen out favor with the Eagles because of his large salary and unwillingness to participate in a voluntary offseason conditioning drills.
If Everitt beats out McCollum, the line's depth will be restored because McCollum can also play guard. There is also a possibility the team could sign
free agent John Jackson, a long-time starter for the Steelers and Chargers,
to back up Tucker.
Despite some worry over defensive end Grant Wistrom's surgically repaired shoulder, it appears the Rams have all their bases covered a month before training camp opens. After watching the Falcons go from the Super Bowl to 5-11 because of injuries to halfback Jamal Anderson and quarterback Chris
Chandler, the Rams made sure they carried insurance in both areas. Green will back up Warner and first-round draft pick Trung Canidate does many of the
same things Marshall Faulk does.
The Rams aren't bulletproof. No team is these days, but it appears their potent offense and opportunistic defense will return virtually intact.
We won't know if they've retained their hunger until the season starts. However, they have retained their players, and that's a start.
"It's a beginning, not an ending," Martz said at the team's recent ring presentation ceremony. "I think we can keep this team together for some
time. And, shoot, we'll just make a run at it."
Shoot, they just might.
Waiting for the scraps to fall
They are called the Bears and Eagles, but they look more like vultures
lately.
|  | | Eric Swann drew plenty of interest when he was released by Arizona. |
Both teams have room under the salary cap -- the Eagles moreso than the Bears -- and both have their eyes on veteran players who were expected to be
released in the June 1 cuts. Problem is, Eric Swann and David Szott are still
with their teams.
The Bears are one of several teams that covet the oft-injured Swann, a defensive tackle for the Cardinals. A two-time Pro Bowler, Swann has
struggled to return to his dominating form after two knee surgeries. He has played in only 18 of Arizona's last 34 games.
By cutting Swann, who turns 30 in August, the Cardinals would free up about $3.5 million under the salary cap. The team recently signed free agent Tony McCoy, a long-time starter for the Colts, and re-signed Mark Smith to a
one-year contract, giving them two starting tackles and increasing the possibility that Swann will be released.
Unfortunately for the Bears, Panthers and any other team that wants Swann, the Cardinals haven't cut him yet and haven't indicated if, or when, they
will.
That's a difficult wait for the Bears, who have been in an aggressive mode since February. If the Bears can sign Swann, he would join end Phillip Daniels, cornerback Thomas Smith and safety Shawn Wooden and rookie linebacker Brian Urlacher as key defensive imports. With those five in the
lineup, the Bears would rival the Redskins for the most improved defense in the NFC.
The Eagles, meanwhile, have their eye on Szott, a guard for the Chiefs.
Szott, 32, remains a very productive starter and the Chiefs are saying publicly that they'll trade but never release him. However, most teams
believe the Chiefs eventually will be forced to let Szott go free.
For one thing, they already have five-time Pro Bowler Will Shields at one guard and added veteran free agents Brenden Stai (Steelers) and Jeff Blackshear (Ravens) during the offseason. Second, Shields' salary-cap number
for this season is $2.2 million, money the Chiefs will probably need to finish signing their draft picks. Third, Szott is in the final year of his contract and will become an unrestricted free agent next year. Finally, Szott has asked the Chiefs to release him or trade him to a team closer to his home in New Jersey. He recently moved there so his son, who has cerebral palsy, can attend a special school.
The Chiefs say they are willing to trade Szott, but only if they get a third-round draft pick in return. However, Szott's cap number is probably too
high for most teams to absorb, making a trade unlikely.
The Eagles, who have more cap room -- a reported $7 million -- than any other team, are hoping to sign two quality free agents before training camp
begins. Thus, it appears they will try to wait out the Chiefs and add Szott to their revamped offensive line on their own terms.
Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal writes a weekly NFC column that appears every other Thursday during the offseason.
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