Ok, If he doesn’t fit, then he doesn’t fit. But why would you release a guy that is somewhat good at his position and will easily take a backup spot?

This move really puzzles me. We got rid of Pace cause of injury concerns and his bonus payout. But Pisa COULDN’T have that much of an effect on the cap or bonus payout. He had over 100 tackles last year! That at least gets him a spot as a backup. Please tell me there is more to this story. If not, this is a bad move, especially since we have depth problems at linebacker.

He was one of my favorite players, but he really was not that good the past couple of years. As few games as the Rams have won over the past few years, they have very little cap room. Clearing 3.25M is no small accomplishment. Pisa, IMO, was not a good starter any more. This is another step in the Rams having a lot of cap room for next offseason and being able to make an impact signing.

does anyone remember how frustratingly inconsistent he could be? For every game where he was making tackles, there was another where he was out of position for every single snap.

i doubt there was any team keen on taking him in a trade.

Sando says it’s $2 million in cap room, but I have the $3.25 number.

I can only think of only a couple of reasons on why you would cut this guy instead of getting something in return for him and that is 1) To avoid paying a roster bonus and/or 2)that the Rams wanted or needed to generate some extra cap room quickly, maybe to close the deals with J. Smith and the other draft picks or maybe they see someone available that would be a better use of Pisa’s cap space. In any case, teams are already showing alot of interest in Pisa and he could have brought a low level pick at worst if we had waited a little bit.

IDK if someone covered this or not, but they get paid in 2 parts – Base Salary and Bonus. Salary usually gets higher in each year of the contract, but the bonus spread in equal, annual amounts.

I believe the Rams are off the hook for his Salary but whatever is left of his Bonus – meaning all of the remaining annual payments – is still counted against the salary cap. He had 2009, 2010 and 2011 left.

Scout.com says the Rams will indeed get some cap relief and that annual bonus money left totals up to 2M. PFT says his base salary was 3.25M.

If they’re both true, then:
- His base salary for 2009 was 3.25M That is taken off our salary cap.
- His total bonus left through 2011 was 2M. That counts against the cap.
- Rams end up with 1.25M more space at the end of the day.

That makes no sense.

In with the . . . nothing?

Are they interested by the possible depth at OLB in the 2010 draft? Are they clearing space to make a move for Anquan Boldin or Braylon Edwards? This is certainly unforeseen.

I always thought Tino was a good linebacker. He seemed like he worked hard, and I thought he did a great job while he was in STL. I’m not all too sure about the move – and frankly, I’m surprised like everyone else. It’s kinda sad to see him go.

i think with their cap situation they’ll sign another LB (or WR or both) both don’t expect any thing more than solid depth guys. they don’t have the money for marquee names

Halfstep. It seemed that he was always one halfstep away from making a big tackle, interception or sack that would be game changing. It was amazing to sit in the stands with our group and yell out HALFSTEP! for every time Pisa would come close to making a big play, only to see the play result in a big play for the offence. We had a blast with that line.

Now, at work when someone screws up while having good intentions it is commonly referred to as halfstep.

Pisa is a good guy, wonderful team player, hard working warrior that always seemed a halfstep away from stardom. I think many of us can sympathyze with always being a halfstep away from getting that big break in life.

witherspoon will replace pisa, Laurenitis will take Witherspoons spot but culberson didnt look to good last year. Draft has clearly lost a step from his younger nfl years. Vobora probabley couldnt even make it on another nfl roster. Chamberlne has not shown me anything. Looks like a huge hole at the other starting lb spot. Pisa was good and a ram favorite but he wasnt an elite lb who should be getting that much money. Early on in his career he made big hits and big plays. I didnt see much of that last year, or any at all actually. But I do think he is better than any of the lb that will be filling in his spot. This year we will pick 1st or 2nd to last in the nfl. Bradford get ready to be a Ram with the first overall pick.