Rams bring back Fells

by Ryan Van Bibber on Mar 10, 2010 9:35 PM CST in 2010 St. Louis Rams offseason

Tight end Daniel Fells enters the offseason as the St. Louis Rams starting TE, after the free agent accepted the Rams contract offer. The talking paper was reported to be a $1.5 million, one-year deal.

The Rams needed a tight end after the Randy McMichael became the last of the heaviest Scott Linehan Era free agents to be unburdened by the team. Fells has been a useful presence in the lineup since joining the Rams during the 2008 season.

While I think there's some logic, informed gambling really, behind the decision to quote/unquote lowball Oshiomogho Atogwe (preview for a post tomorrow), I did not understand the decision to let Fells walk. The second round tender for a RFA was $1.6 million. Maybe they just wanted to see what the market value was before giving Fells a deal on the higher-end of the range they were prepared to go to with a contract offer. It sounds kind of like a dick move, but it makes sense from a business standpoint. I think Fells is a good player with some potential, but I don't think he's so good that the Rams failed to consider that they could probably find someone similar in free agency or a practice squad, where Fells himself came from. Cautiousness about his injury may have added motivation.

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Glad you were working on this, Van

Just saw the news. Glad to see we didn’t lose him. Especially to the Pats.

THIS year's the year. I hope....

by thisguy on Mar 10, 2010 9:41 PM CST reply actions

now we need to get atogwe signed

Can closed

by CanofRamz on Mar 10, 2010 9:43 PM CST via mobile reply actions

This is good news,

although not a real surprise. I think they had a pretty good idea of what they wanted to do with Fells and Atogwe, but they want to see what the market says before signing a contract.

by andyrose on Mar 10, 2010 9:51 PM CST reply actions

I kind of wondered

how crazy you would have gone, Van, if your boy had bolted. Your fan crush is almost as creepy as VT’s love for Amendola.

You don't seem to want to accept the fact you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. In *St. Louis* his job was to dispose of enemy personnel. To kill! Period! Win by attrition. Well, *Steven Jackson* was the best.

by 3k on Mar 10, 2010 10:07 PM CST reply actions