Will Brian Quick be able to help the St. Louis Rams in 2012?

The St. Louis Rams are working second-round wide receiver Brian Quick into the offense—just very, very slowly. Will he contribute in 2012, or is he their No. 1 receiver of the distant future?

St. Louis Rams, Trumaine Johnson Possibly Delayed By Slotting Problem

The St. Louis Rams have signed a number of their draft picks early this offseason, but CB Trumaine Johnson has not yet made any known progress in negations with the Rams. Ryan Van Bibber of Turf Show Times suspect the issue is related to a slotting problem.

According to Van Bibber, players in the third round are getting paid contracts disproportionate to their selection:

The slotting system has a kink in it.

For instance, Panthers defensive tackle Terrell McClain, the first pick in the third round, will make $465,000 this year. Will Rackley, the 12th pick in the third round, will get more than $507,000 from the Jaguars this year.

It seems that Johnson and his agent are waiting for a clearer picture of how the third round contracts will shake out, so he does not end up accepting less than he should.

Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.

St. Louis Rams Continue NFL Draft Work, Sign WR Brian Quick

The St. Louis Rams continued working through their 2012 NFL Draft picks Tuesday, signing second-round wide receiver Brian Quick to a four year rookie contract. Turf Show Times has the details—now all that's left is for Quick to prove he's the future No. 1 wide receiver the Rams have been looking for since they drafted Donnie Avery. No pressure, right?

Quick put up big numbers for Appalachian State, but he's considered a raw talent—the Rams could use the talent, for sure, but the problem with his rawness is that they'll need him to contribute on some level immediately, given their lack of depth at the position. The hope, presumably, is that he'll be able to use his huge frame to do some impact things from the beginning, and learn consistency on a game-to-game and snap-to-snap basis while he has the occasional big game.

That's not the kind of learning experience Quick would be able to get anywhere else—so I can't blame him for signing relatively quickly and getting down to work.

St. Louis Rams, Second-Round Pick Isaiah Pead Agree To Contract

The St. Louis Rams signed second round pick Isaiah Pead to a four-year contract on Wednesday afternoon, as Brian McIntyre of NFL.com writes. Pead confirmed the signing, which is for an undisclosed amount, on his Twitter feed.

According to McIntyre, the running back's four-year deal is, "expected to be worth around $4 million and include nearly $2 million in guaranteed money." That's roughly the standard going rate for the 50th overall pick, which is where Pead was selected in the draft earlier this year.

Over two years as the starter for Cincinnati, Pead accumulated 3288 rushing yards, 721 receiving yards and 33 total touchdowns. The hope is that he'll be able to complement starting running back Steven Jackson in the Rams' developing offense.

Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.

Sixth-Round Pick Greg Zuerlein, Rams Agree To Deal

The St. Louis Rams officially have a new kicker: sixth-round draft pick Greg Zuerlein of Missouri Western State. Howard Balzer of the Sports Xchange reported this morning that Zuerlein and the Rams agreed to a four-year deal, although the terms of the deal have yet to be released.

Rams signed kicker Greg Zuerlein (sixth-round pick) to four-year contract Tuesday. That makes half of the team's 10 picks that have signed.

— Howard Balzer (@HBalzer721) June 6, 2012

Per Pro Football Talk, Zuerlein was a perfect 9-9 on field goals over 50 yards and notched 30 touchbacks (while kicking from the 30-yard line) in 2011. Ex-Rams kicker Josh Brown, who was not brought back by the team, is signed with the New York Jets for 2012.

Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.

Rams Sign 4 Rookie 2012 NFL Draft Picks

The St. Louis Rams have been busy signing their rookie draft class from the 2012 NFL Draft, and on Friday they completed deals with 4th-round pick Chris Givens, 5th-round pick Rokevious Watkins, and 7th-round picks Aaron Brown and Daryl Richardson, as reported by Ryan Van Bibber of Turf Show Times. The Rams had been moving slower than most NFL teams on signing their rookies -- they were in the company of the Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints and Oakland Raiders as one of only four teams that had failed to sign any draft picks prior to Friday -- but clearly St. Louis has started to move more swiftly in recent days.

Chris Givens is a speedy WR the Rams plan on pairing with third-round pick Brian Quick, Watkins is a project of an offensive lineman, Brown is a special teams player that provides depth at LB and Richardson is special teams RB with some speed.

Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.