Is Ron Bartell worth $40 million?

by Ryan Van Bibber on Feb 26, 2009 11:13 AM CST in 2009 Off-Season

Uh oh. I don't where the negotiations stand with the Rams and CB Ron Bartell; we do know that Devaney and Spagnuolo would like to keep him in a Rams uniform next year. If they do work out a deal with Bartell it's liable to be an expenisve one. How expensive, you ask?

In a Denver Post article noting that the Broncos would probably not chase Bartell if he became a free agent, this number was thrown out as the likely cost for Bartell's services:

Should Bartell hit the free market tonight, it may take a five-year, $40 million contract with an $18 million guarantee to get him.

Wow. Good thing the NFL gave everyone another $4 million on the cap. Conventional wisdom says that Bartell would be one of the top two targets, along with the Steelers Brian McFadden, among the free agent cornerbacks. For the Rams to retain his services, it's no leap to think they'd have to make him a similar offer.

Whether you like the idea of the Rams keeping Bartell or not, they'll almost certainly have to lay down some serious cash to get at least one solid CB on the roster. Right now they have nobody at that position who is a worthy 16-game starter. And to round it out, they'll almost certainly have to sign a more, ahem, veteran (read: over 30) presence to round out their starting depth.

Poll

Should the Rams re-sign CB Ron Bartell even if it requires a 5-year, $40 million deal?

Yes - time to start hanging onto our young players

165 votes

No - he doesn't have the ball skills to command that much money

107 votes

272 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 1 comment | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I think if you could backload the contract, it would be worth doing

It’s a lot of dollars, but the biggest cap pain is this year, because of the money we’re paying out to chumps like Bennett. After this season, with the cap number increasing, you could do it.

Otherwise, you could potentially lower the dollar amount of the contract by guaranteeing more of it, but that doesn’t help us with the cap this season.

"Attaway to stomp 'em. Stomp the piss out of 'em. Stomp 'em when they're down. Kick 'em and stomp 'em. Attaway to go boys. Pound that old Budweiser into you and go get them tomorrow." -- Joe Schultz

by taiko on Feb 26, 2009 12:14 PM CST reply actions