Fells off to New England?
by VanRam on Mar 9, 2010 6:54 AM CST
in 2010 St. Louis Rams offseason
24 comments
The St. Louis Rams won't be coming back to Daniel Fells to fill the void on the roster at the tight end position. Not tendered a restricted free agent offer, Fells is reportedly close to a deal with the Patriots. According to the PD, the Rams were still in talks with Fells.
According to that source, PFT, they're considering him a blocking TE, but with Ben Watson likely leaving the Pats, they have to see some upside for Fells. Of course, Fells is more of a replacement for Chris Baker I would assume.
I'm anxious to see how the Rams plan to fill the need at TE. Watson is visiting the Browns tomorrow, having already stopped in Seattle. There are some trade possibilities out there, most notably Tony Scheffler, that Devaney might pursue as well. Either way, they need help at TE.
James Hall is visiting the Saints immediately following Leonard Little. I don't know about both, but bringing back one of those guys is a good idea for the Rams.
Here's someone asking a good question: Why is Antonio Bryant not getting much attention on the free agent market?
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Spags is in danger...
Of losing his job. Several of the Rams who have put in 100% effort. In other words, as FA is coming and going, the Rams are getting worse.
Several of the Rams...
who have put in 100% effort are considering to leave.
That statement is...
1) un-provable and 2) impossible to determine.
So, I’m guessing you’re just being dramatic.
Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.
- John Wayne
Well said...
No you’re both right:
1) Leonard Little who plays through injuries and had a decent season, Fells who did show flashes of good (not excellent) blocking, catching and route running, Atogwe (most forced turnovers by a safety), and Hall (good effort) should be encouraged to peruse FA and see if they can receive better offers. Who would be our starting DEs if both of these two go? Long and Adeyanju/Ah You. Much better improvement.
2) A 32-year old AJ Feeley who has been a never was (about $3M per year) and a 33-yr old, rotational DT with a recent injury history (about $4m/yr) are excellent improvements. One would think that Haslett and Linehan are still coaching this team based on players being signed with whom they have had previous histories. I mean both of those coaches’ signings greatly improved the franchise (sarcasm should be noted).
Do yourselves a favor, pull your heads out of the sand and take your hands off of your ears. Many thought the Rams could not find any way to get worse, and yet they have.
What, don’t believe me? Show me articles that commend these moves and specifically state that the Rams have improved themselves.
Why isn't Antonio Bryant getting any looks?
I know you were referring to Bryant not gettin any attention around the league, but I will just use the Rams. Bryant isn’t getting any attntion from the Rams because we don’t believe in good established players. We like to get no names and hope they turn out good, or we draft players in hopes they do good and don’t keep them. Just look at Atogwe. We had one of the worst years in history last year due to our offense being pathetic and one sided. So did we use any foresight before we made moves? No, we immediately cut Holt just to save money. In the meantime, we went on running SJax in the ground and not having any kind of air attack at all. How about picking up proven guys for a change and stop trying to make every season seem like a remake of the 99 season. Sure Kurt came from nowhere and did it. But the more important signing was that of Marshall Faulk. If we didn’t pull the trigger on that deal, then we would still be without a super bowl. Go out and PAY for some talent! Stop being cheap! Give Togs a contract, get a PROVEN wide receiver and don’t be scared to take some risks! Say what you want about Dan Snyder and his signings, at least I can say I have never been to a skins game where the possibility of someone having a breakout game wasn’t there. Snyder may be dumb for giving Deangelo Hall all that money, but at least there was a chance he would make a great play. You go to the Rams game and they are full of no names that were drafted in the 7th round or even undrafted. You don’t expect them to make plays because they aren’t capable of it. If I wanted to watch undrafted players, I would go to a D-II college game.
On this team, we are all united in a common goal: to keep my job.
-- Lou Holtz
by RamsMan83 on Mar 9, 2010 10:39 AM CST via mobile reply actions
Bryant is not a #1 WR.
We don’t need any more #2s. Read the Jim Thomas interview if you don’t believe me.
Why?
Do we let Fells go with no compensation? Why didn’t we tender him at the lowest level? How much will we really save compared to the what – $1.25 million we were going to owe him? Now we have no TE, and will have to pick one up for a huge savings of…maybe $250K?
Same thing with Atogwe. We are risking his loss for what? To save maybe $1 million? He’s one of our best players. We shouldn’t risk losing him to a bigger offer.
We are adding holes rather than filling them. This is looking like Moneyball to me. I live in Oakland now and can’t stand the way the A’s treat their players and fans (Angels fan for life). Whenever someone is good enough to make money, they leave.
The thing with the A's comparison
is just because someone gets paid more, doesn’t make him better. Now, the A’s aren’t the best example because they operate on a limited budget, anyway the thinking is…why pay Player A 5 Million dollars to do a job that Player B can do for the league minimum.
Is this the way the Rams are being ran? Well….kind of. But I don’t think it’s their organizational philosophy, it’s just the way they’re chosing to go about things right now.
Let me explain.
Last year we had a lot of players making a lot of money who were either not any better than someone making way less or the difference between the two were basically neglible. Now, football’s a little different in that you often can’t cut everyone you want because of the salary cap and you don’t have readily availble players to take over because you don’t have a real farm system like baseball.
So, the Rams had to hold on to some vets who they couldn’t cut (but I bet if last year were a non-cap year we’d have seen more cuts) in order to bring new guys into the organization and to give them playing time. The difference in the standings was minimal.
Does it look bad from the outside? Sure. But, if this is the route they’re taking and they have the support and understanding of ownership, then they will have plenty of time to fix the mess they inherited. And if they don’t, I really don’t see a huge problem with it since this group of players was going to bottom out anyway.
Fixing the roster with overpriced and mediocre free agents doesn’t make sense. Could the Rams have sold the farm to acquire Julius Peppers? Sure, but he that much of a difference maker? No. Was Julius Peppers and Aaron Kampan what was keeping us from the playoffs? No.
Acquiring those two players does nothing to help the team when this managament group feels the team will be ready to compete. All it would do is add 1 or 2 wins to our total and that doesn’t help a thing.
Now, once we start developing our own players, I’m sure we’ll see a lot more willingness to fork out to keep them in the fold. Is Daniel Fells really worth getting worked up about? Is he irreplaceable? Did anyone get excited when he was acquired last year?
The answer to all of those questions is “No”.
So, we start to build the team from the ground up, keeping only the pieces that truly make sense to keep and that won’t hinder us going forward into uncertainty (no one really knows what the new CBA will be like and when it will be agreed upon). There’s a possibility we could be looking at a work stoppage next season.
Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.
- John Wayne
C'Mon football gurus
The Rams are terrible at DE.
LL is at the end of his career.
Hall – never, ever really that good!
I have said it too much – Rams should concentrate on DEFENSE in the draft.
Heck, I would not so much mind selecting Russel Okung at #1 (for the offense) and then Defense al the rest of the way!!!
Trenches and 2nd tier impact players is what Rams desperately NEED!
Remember, spring training still to come, etc….
if these guys are too good to lose
why were the Rams 1-15?
I think a guy like fells can contribute, but he’s easy enough to replace. I’d keep Hall or Little just because we can use an extra body for the DL.
Turf Show Times
He's been our best so far
If he’s easy to replace, why have our TE’s been so much worse lately? Klop, McMichael, Byrd, Aaron Walker, Butler…
We gotta keep somebody! It’s not like he was going to cost a fortune to keep. Let’s see who his replacement is, and how much we save.
The only improvement would be if we trade for Sheffler or draft someone like Pitta in the 3rd or 4th round. Swap for Watson?
I agree with Hall and Little. We should probably keep one – and Little would be my preference.
"We gotta keep somebody!"
Why?
Why can’t we just replace them?
It’s not like he was going to cost a fortune to keep.
Maybe not, but why pay him when someone can do the same job for less money? Or a better job for the same or slighty more money?
Let’s see who his replacement is, and how much we save.
It’s not like Daniel Fells is a Pro Bowler. He’s completely replaceable. Any money saved on a non-impact guy like Fells is beneficial.
The only improvement would be if we trade for Sheffler or draft someone like Pitta in the 3rd or 4th round. Swap for Watson?
Sure, it would be great to improve on the field in that position, but if you get someone who can do the same job for less money, then that’s an improvement too since you’re allocating your assest better.
I agree with Hall and Little. We should probably keep one – and Little would be my preference.
Agree 100%
Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.
- John Wayne
Agree to disagree on Fells.
You keep saying we can replace Fells.
This is probably true – but can we replace him with someone cheaper? All our other TE efforts have failed miserably.
“It’s not like Daniel Fells is a Pro Bowler. He’s completely replaceable. Any money saved on a non-impact guy like Fells is beneficial”
How much money are we going to save? …and will we take another step back in doing so? Is it worth saving $250K? He’s already a bargain if you ask me.
If we can improve with someone slightly more expensive, that would be great. That’s why I mentioned the draft, Watson, or Sheffler.
You seem to feel we can replace Fells with someone better for a little more, or someone equal for the same. I just keep thinking about all our failed TE’s recently as proof that it’s not that easy.
Luckily, the rumors now are that he might return after all.
Here's the problem
You’re talking about tight ends that were evaluated and signed or drafted by some of the most incompetent people to be in charge of an NFL roster. Those guys are gone. So, to reference Joe Klop and Dominique Byrd and guys like that is a moot point.
The guys making the decisions now are the guys who signed Fells in the first place and everyone yawned at the acquisition. If they don’t acquire him last year, there’s a chance he’s never in the situation he’s in now where both the Rams and Patriots are interested in him being their TE.
Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.
- John Wayne
Its No Use Oski
Tackle Box is one of those guys that think the Rams can do no wrong and every decision they make is the right one…….bottom line is that the Rams are trying not to spend that much money because when a team is for sale, the current owners need to make the team look as profitable as possible, second, Spags is learning as he goes, so he needs to rely on the guy who drafted Ryan Leaf……..supposedly, this is part of the pains of re-building, OK i’ll buy it for now, but if we dont have a big improvement next year (5-6 wins) then I want Spags/Devaney’s heads……..when a team goes 1-15, then has an offseason like we’re having so far (lack of signings) one has to wonder……….
Jake Locker in 2011
I see.
So, I’m a polyanna because the I don’t want to jump off a bridge simply because the Rams are risking losing someone as valuable and irreplaceable as Daniel Fells.
Okay……..
Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.
- John Wayne
Fells re-signs
Looks like the Rams agreed. Fells is back.
The Rams agreed about what?
That Fells wasn’t worth the 1.6 Mil tender?
You’re right. They just got someone who can give you Fells production for half the money. That’s a hell of a move by the front office.
Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.
- John Wayne
The team is not for sale
although it’s waiting approval, that deal has already been done in principle. Khan obviously isn’t looking at 2010 fiscal results yet, and I have a very hard time believing any lack of FA signs are about showing him a profit. I would think they’d want to show him they know how to do their jobs well. That’s what I’d be doing with a new boss coming aboard.
by CoachConnors on Mar 10, 2010 9:05 AM CST up reply actions
The only improvement would be -- ? There's more options than that
Gresham would be an improvement like we haven’t seen in a long time at Rams TE.
Gronkowski needs to show he is recovered from injury but if he is, he would be an improvement.
Graham from Miami is faster than Pitta and looks like he could be a recieving TE that could maybe improve the current set of guys. He’s another of the former basketball players that have been playing well at TE.
And yes, Pitta, he would be an improvement too.
Ok here is where I stand...
Should we have kept Fells? I think so, he proved to buy into the philosophy of the team, he was unselfish, and he played well. Actually, he played better than expected.
The reality is Ben Watson would be just as good if not better to replace Fells. He is a more athletic, better receiving TE than Fells. Might be nice to pick up considering that we still have Bajema, a blocking specialists.
With New Orleans looking to bring in our two DE’s, how about we look at Charles Grant, who they just released last week. He is younger than both LL and JH, not by much, and if he can stay healthy could be a nice veteran addition.
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