St. Louis Rams, Mark Clayton Still Talking Despite Crowded Receiving Corps

It looks like Mark Clayton and the St. Louis Rams might reconnect after all.

NFL Free Agency: St. Louis Rams Add Linebacker Depth With Ben Leber

Ben Leber, late of the Minnesota Vikings, joins the St. Louis Rams' free agency haul as linebacker depth.

NFL Free Agency: Running Back Could Be An Unlikely Upgrade For Rams

The St. Louis Rams' decision to upgrade its backup running backs could pay dividends for their starter, Steven Jackson.

NFL Free Agency: Cadillac Williams, St. Louis Rams Stage Steven Jackson Intervention

It looks like the St. Louis Rams finally decided it was time for a change. After years of letting Steven Jackson rush himself into an early grave by taking nearly every carry the Rams had for him, no matter how small, undignified, or dangerous, the erstwhile Greatest Show on Turf signed two down-on-their-luck veterans out of free agency, selecting Jerious Norwood as The Fast Understudy and Cadillac Williams as The Third Down Understudy. Their job: To get beaten up so that Jackson doesn't have to. Their mission: To do that well enough that, like Kenneth Darby and Keith Toston, last year's models, they don't find themselves invisible after Week 5.

Cadillac Williams, for his part, seems to have taken well to the role of Third Down Punching Bag after his arduous return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers following a glorious start to his rookie season and several years of near-career-ending injury problems. With Norwood he provides the stoutest backup plan to Jackson in recent memory--and we can only hope it's stout enough to actually work.

NFL Training Camp: Robert Quinn Ready To Practice For St. Louis Rams

Robert Quinn, the St. Louis Rams' first pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, has had more than his share of health concerns since emerging as one of the top pass-rushing prospects in college football, but it wasn't his brain tumor so much as his more pedestrianly balky knee that had the Rams worried going into training camp. Thursday Quinn passed his physical, allowing the Rams a look at their defensive line of the future in their abbreviated preseason.

Quinn, considered a steal at 13th overall, heads up the youth movement in the Rams' surprisingly accomplished defensive line of a year ago, anchored mainly by Steve Spagnuolo's gumption and a group of thirtysomethings. With Chris Long on the other end and Quinn expected to get significant playing time against the pass from the beginning fo the year, the Rams suddenly feature one of the best young pass-rushing tandems in football. At least in theory.

St. Louis Rams Free Agency: Rams Sign Jerious Norwood To Complement Steven Jackson

Darren Sproles and Reggie Bush were off the board early, but that didn't keep the St. Louis Rams from getting their man in NFL free agency, or at least their type of man--Jerious Norwood will be Steven Jackson's long-awaited shifty-undersized-running-back complement after signing a one year deal Tuesday.

Norwood was a brilliant change-of-pace back in 2007 and 2008, averaging 5.6 yards per carry and catching 64 balls besides, but 2009 was a struggle and 2010 was lost almost entirely; Norwood played in just two games, touching the ball three times, before going down for good. The Rams are betting that injuries and ineffectiveness haven't slowed him down permanently.

If he's healthy, Norwood, an unconventional threat at the position, could be a great weapon for Josh McDaniels, but the rumor mavens suggest the Rams aren't done yet in their quest to save Steven Jackson from his own desire to run himself into the ground. A more conventional pick-up like Cadillac Williams could still be in the cards. 

NFL Free Agency: Cadillac Williams Could Be The Punching Bag The Rams Seek

The St. Louis Rams have officially been declared in the hunt for a full-sized backup to overworked feature back Steven Jackson, and per the rumors they won't let a little thing like the Eagles signing number-one choice Ronnie Brown get in the way. Cadillac Williams is the latest name to be thrown around in the Rams' quest for a part-time bodyguard, and he could prove to be their ideal punching-bag.

Turf Show Times notes that Williams, who has emerged as a serviceable backup and pass-blocker after that superstar opening chapter in Tampa Bay was derailed by injuries that nearly ended his career, is somewhat more limited than Brown, let alone Jackson. 

But the Rams wouldn't be looking for dynamic play out of whichever player fills the Cadillac Williams Role at this point, would they? They're looking for a guy who can take the third-and-short punches they'd just as soon keep Steven Jackson out of arm's reach on. As the third back in a set that now includes Jerious Norwood, Williams represents a major upgrade over the likes of Kenneth Darby and Keith Toston, Jackson's would-be load-bearers in 2010, and I'm not sure the team would be asking for much besides that.

NFL Free Agency: Ronnie Brown Spurns Rams For Philadelphia Eagles

The day after NFL free agency rumor mavens began predicting, for the first time all offseason, that the St. Louis Rams might chase a conventional running back and not a change-of-pace type to stand behind Steven Jackson, the exact opposite played out--Ronnie Brown, the conventional running back in question, went to the Philadelphia Eagles as part of their extensive title-contention makeover, while the Rams picked up one of the change-ups still on the market, Jerious Norwood, lately of the Atlanta Falcons. 

Brown was reportedly considering the Rams until the very end, but the Eagles could offer more playing time and a clearer path to the Super Bowl for the veteran back, so this hardly comes as a surprise. Brown's departure doesn't mean the Rams are finished looking for a full-sized back to go with Jackson and Norwood, however. The Rams' pursuit of Brown has been coupled with reports they're sniffing around Cadillac Williams and other backups who might yet lighten Steven Jackson's load. 

NFL Free Agency: Rams Sign Jerious Norwood, Steven Jackson Gets Name-Brand Backup

The St. Louis Rams finally found a name-brand running back to back up Steven Jackson Tuesday, plucking Jerious Norwood off the free-agency rack to fill the change-of-pace back role many expected to go to Reggie Bush or Darren Sproles. The former Atlanta Falcons kick-returner, receiver, and speed merchant, who led the league in yards-per-carry at 6.0 in 2007, will, health willing, take some of the rushing load from Steven Jackson while simultaneously finding a spot in Josh McDaniels’s more exotic offensive schemes.

Norwood’s health and related decline bought him his ticket from the Falcons—he played in just two games in 2010, after averaging only 3.3 yards per carry in 2009—but if he stays healthy he’s likely to get a long look from the Rams, who last year surrounded Jackson with former seventh-rounder Kenneth Darby and the undrafted Keith Toston.

Rams Herd thinks the Rams might be done after signing Norwood, based on Josh McDaniels’s running back stylings in the past, but others have suggested Norwood could be only part of a backup platoon that is filled out with the likes of Cadillac Williams or some other name-brand punching bag.

NFL Free Agency: Ronnie Brown Could Be St. Louis Rams' Next Running Back

After Reggie Bush and Darren Sproles signed quickly and left the St. Louis Rams' search for an off-beat alternative to Steven Jackson over before it began, the team started looking at more conventional backup options in its brief trip through NFL free agency. The top rumor Tuesday was Ronnie Brown, former Miami Dolphins starter and, for versatility's sake, one of the crucial instigators in the NFL's begrudging acceptance of the Wildcat offense.

Brown, the second overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, had his best season in 2008, when, splitting carries with Ricky Williams, he rushed for 10 touchdowns and 916 yards, averaging 4.3 per carry. Already used to splitting carries, Brown would be a solid fit with the Rams, who need to find some way to reduce Steven Jackson's workload without him freaking out about it.

Of course, solving that problem might just add another--Jackson was recently quoted as saying he wanted more passing targets, which might be a preemptive strike at his limited rushing workload in 2011.

Randy Moss Retires, Per Agent; St. Louis Rams Rumors Not Over Yet

NFL Free Agency: Darren Sproles, Reggie Bush Evade St. Louis Rams With Same Shifty Move

Darren Sproles and Reggie Bush both seemed to be at the top of the St. Louis Rams' shopping list as NFL Free Agency intensified, but each managed to escape the team's grasp in the same move when Reggie Bush left the Saints for the Dolphins and the Saints responded by signing Darren Sproles. Exit: The shifty running backs. Enter: Yet another plan for reducing Steven Jackson's carries.

The good news for Rams fans is that with Josh McDaniels and his two-tight-end sets at the helm and Sam Bradford another year older, Jackson's carries might come down organically. The bad news is that he remains less than open to a conventional platoon arrangement, or even anything that smacks of one, and as he becomes more and more the elder statesman of the team they'll have to find a way to placate him while doing what's in their best interest--not to mention his own.

It was never a sure thing that the Rams would end up with either Sproles or Bush, but I must say I was a little surprised when reports came out that both would skip out in one fell swoop.

Reggie Bush Ends Up With Dolphins; What Would He Have Cost The Rams?

Arizona Cardinals Trade For Kevin Kolb, NFC West Completes Quarterback Makeover

The Arizona Cardinals completed the NFC West's quarterback makeover Thursday, executing their long-rumored trade with the Philadelphia Eagles for Wally Pipped quarterback Kevin Kolb. The Cardinals sent the Eagles a second-round pick and Dominique Rogers-Cromartie for the privilege of signing Kolb to a $63 million contract to replace the Derek Anderson fiasco and cover up the Cardinals' strange lack of faith in Matt Leinart. 

Kolb, 27, has proven competent but unspectacular in two limited exposures to NFL action, but he was still seen as the Eagles' quarterback of the future until the moment Michael Vick completed his return to NFL stardom. With unsigned Fordham rookie John Skelton the Cardinals' starter at the end of their ugly 2010 season, Kolb will find himself with considerably fewer blocked paths to a starting role in Arizona. 

He joins Tarvaris Jackson--and Leinart--of the Seattle Seahawks in remaking an NFC West landscape dominated in 2010 by an aging Matt Hasselbeck, Sam Bradford, and the 49ers' continued lack of faith in Alex Smith. In 2011 it looks like all four NFC West squads will go into the 2011 season with a quarterback they believe in. 

NFL Free Agency: Kevin Kolb, Tarvaris Jackson Could Reshape NFC West

Say what you will about Alex Smith, and the San Francisco 49ers' long-ago decision to name him their quarterback of the future, but as the NFL lockout finally ended he was somehow the second-best quarterback in the beleaguered NFC West. As free agency begins, a respite from John Skelton and Charlie Whitehurst: The Seattle Seahawks signed Tarvaris Jackson, making the division even more wide open than it was before. With Kevin Kolb and others (Brett Favre? Yeah?) still on the market, there's still time for the Arizona Cardinals, post-Derek-Anderson, to join the ranks of the contenders.

Jackson isn't Sam Bradford, but after a strange career with the Minnesota Vikings the Seahawks are in decent position to reap the benefits of a change-of-scenery, no-Brett-Favre-involved career year. Likewise, Kevin Kolb isn't going to make a Pro Bowl, but he could convert the hopeless Cardinals of 2010 into a team that might at least make some waves in 2011.

The St. Louis Rams have their own problems to deal with in this abbreviated free agency--chief among them a running back and a wide receiver--but their competitors' quarterback situation will have the biggest impact on the 2011 NFC West.

NFL Free Agency: Tarvaris Jackson Fills Seattle Seahawks' Quarterback Vacancy

A shaky handoff between Matt Hasselbeck and odd quarterback-of-the-future Charlie Whitehurst left the Seattle Seahawks in a quandary that only the post-lockout NFL Free Agency landscape could solve. Their solution was revealed Tuesday, when the Seahawks signed free agent Tarvaris Jackson to a deal that makes him the prohibitive favorite in their post-Hasselbeck quarterback sweepstakes.

That leaves the Rams and the Seahawks as the only NFC West teams with relatively stable quarterback situations. The Cardinals are still in on Kevin Kolb and various other spare veterans after the Derek Anderson project went predictably disastrously, while the 49ers are in yet another delicate situation with perpetual quarterback-of-the-future Alex Smith.`The 49ers seem set for the offseason, but the decision the Cardinals make with their veteran team and their unloved rookie quarterback could reshape what promises to be a wide-open division.

The Rams, of course, drafted a guy named Sam Bradford instead of a guy named Jimmy Clausen. So far it's worked out well.