2011 NFL Draft
NFL Free Agents 2012: Peyton Manning, Washington Redskins And The St. Louis Rams Trade Market
The St. Louis Rams just got a little bit of good news, albeit in a roundabout sort of way. According to a report from Chris Russell from ESPN 980 in Washington, DC, Manning does not want to play for the Washington Redskins. Unless, Dan Synder can find another way to woo Manning, that is a positive develop for the Rams' attempts to trade their second overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.
St. Louis Rams sign Greg Salas
The St. Louis Rams have agreed to terms with their fourth-round pick, Hawaii wide receiver Greg Salas. Salas becomes the first member of the Rams' 2011 draft class to agree to terms. Deals with other draft picks can be expected to be announced soon. He will wear jersey number 87.
Salas was considered by many to be a real steal in the fourth round. Some even viewed him as a better player than third-round pick Austin Pettis. Salas brings good hands along with a physical style of play that makes him a threat over the middle.
We broke down some game tape on Salas earlier this summer.
First round pick Robert Quinn will get around $8.4 million or so for his rookie deal, the most expensive of the Rams' picks, but far cheaper than their last few first rounders.
News of Salas' agreeing to terms comes via Jim Thomas of the PD.
Rams draft picks: Robert Quinn fires agent, could hold up contract talks with Rams
The St. Louis Rams' first-round draft pick, North Carolina DE Robert Quinn, has fired his agent, Carl Carey. The news was first reported by Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal today. Unfortunately, it's not as simple as firing him and finding a new agent. Carey is taking legal action to prevent Quinn from negotiating with the Rams using the services of Impact Sports, the player's new agency.
That could be a problem for Quinn and the Rams. If the court sits on the case too long, it has the possibility of delaying Quinn's signing with the Rams. Every single day that the rookie isn't in camp matters, especially after missing offseason workouts and facing a limited amount of time to get ready for the regular season.
According to Mullen, the Rams did know of the situation with Quinn and Carey as of last night.
Under the new CBA rules for draft pick salaries, Quinn would make in the area of $8.1 million over the life of his contract. Negotiations shouldn't take too long with draft picks this year.
Robert Quinn named in UNC report of parking violations
Current and former University of North Carolina football players are in the headlines again, including St. Louis Rams first-round pick DE Robert Quinn. Documents related to the NCAA probe of the program revealed some embarassing details about more than 300 unpaid parking tickets, totaling more than $13,000 in fines, accumulated by UNC football players. Of course, the parking tickets might not be half the trouble given the sheer amount of cars players were driving, including a Land Rover, Acura and a BMW.
Quinn, according to the report, had 53 unpaid tickets on two cars, a blue Dodge and a red Ford. Make and model information was not included in media reports. That was nothing compared to receiver Greg Little, who received 93 tickets on a Dodge, BMW, Acura and a Honda...with dealer plates.
Earlier in the week, UNC received a notice of allegations from the NCAA of "potential major violations," including monitoring player conduct. The parking violations, specifically that players received extra benefits in the form of parking expenses, are part of those allegations and the investigation. More on that here.
Quinn, who missed his senior year under suspension, is unlikely to be affected by the report, other than to have his named mentioned again in conjunction with an NCAA investigation.
Feel free to weigh-in with your thoughts on the NCAA below. I know it's a topic capable of eliciting, um, passions.
Get to know St. Louis Rams DE Robert Quinn
St. Louis Rams first-round draft pick, DE Robert Quinn, is giving away an autographed football. Just head over to his Facebook page and like the post talking about the giveaway. That's all there is to it.
BTW, that's a pretty cool move by Quinn, the future NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. With the lockout in full effect, rookies can't even get to Rams Park to pick up a jersey, much less practice with the team in rookie minicamps which should be happening right about this time. Quinn is making an effort to connect with Rams fans hungry to see just how devastating a defensive line featuring him along with Chris Long, James Hall and Fred Robbins will be this season.
That group will be so devastating, I can't wait to write post next offseason about how they nearly decapitated Seahawks' stand-in quarterback Charlie Whitehurst in 2011, and the rest of the flotsam and jetsam taking snaps in the NFC West.
Rodger Saffold working out with Cam Newton, others during the lockout
The NFL lockout makes strange bedfellows. Dispersed by the owners' decision to close down operations, players have had to find ways to stay busy in a more, um, restrictive offseason. Some have been less productive than others, some have been part of massive team workouts. Players from the St. Louis Rams have worked together in position groups and trained on their own. Rodger Saffold is now one of those players training on his own time, down in Florida with the like of Cam Newton and Josh Freeman.
Saffold is working hard, doing the things you would expect a professional athlete to be doing at a time like this. In the same piece, Jason LaCanfora talks to Saffold about the lockout.
We were happy with our success last year, but we knew we could be better. The lockout is definitely a disadvantage, but it's a disadvantage for everybody. Until it's settled, we need to make sure we're capitalizing on everything we possibly can.
Translation: we know the lockout is going to screw a young team like the Rams, but there's a lot of other teams getting screwed by it too.
In fact, there's no shortage of people getting screwed by the lockout.
St. Louis Rams rookie jersey numbers announced
The St. Louis Rams 2011 draft class now have uniform numbers. Of course, they can't pick up a jersey or any other piece of team equipment that has those numbers on them because of the lockout. Details, details. Here are the new uniform numbers for all eight players.
- DE Robert Quinn - 94
- TE Lance Kendricks - 88
- WR Austin Pettis - 83
- WR Greg Salas - 87
- S Jermale Hines - 21
- CB Mikail Baker - 41
- LB Jabara Williams - 52
- S Jonathan Nelson - 26
Biggest shoes to fill: Jermale Hines inherits Oshiomogho Atogwe's old uniform number. Atogwe, a team captain, left for Washington in free agency this year after the Rams declined to pick up an pricey contract. Spagnuolo's defenses are known for not over-valuing safeties. Surely giving a fifth-round pick Atogwe's old number isn't any sort of statement?
Avoid the last guy's fate: Nelson has Tye Hill's old number. Fortunately, he doesn't have very far to go to contribute more than Hill did during his time with the Rams.
More on the new numbers at the official site.
2011 mock draft nails the St. Louis Rams first-round pick...a year ago
Digging back through year-old mock drafts makes for some good sport. Rarely do they nail much of anything, which isn't a fault per se. Twelve months changes many things. Sometimes. A 2011 NFL mock draft that came out immediately following the 2010 NFL Draft sunk a hole-in-one with the St. Louis Rams' first round pick this year.
Andrew Perloff at SI.com put out his first 2011 mock draft on April 28, 2010. He had the Rams picking third overall, and taking none other than DE Robert Quinn from North Carolina. That Quinn was a considered a top five pick from April 2010 right up through the draft this year is a testament to what a great player he is and how good his 2009 season was. Here's his take on Quinn at the time:
Some see Quinn as the second-coming of Julius Peppers. Overcoming an operation on a brain tumor in high school shows incredible character, but could also make some teams nervous. Not so the Rams.
Of course, the Rams didn't pick third, and Quinn's fall in the draft happened for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was a run on quarterbacks.
Some other things that stand out about the mock:
- Ryan Mallett first overall...whoops.
- Julio Jones was mocked sixth to the Browns. Pretty close, kind of.
- DeMarco Murray in the first? New Orleans did go with a running back though.
- He had the 49ers winning the NFC West.
Showing 1 - 8 of 418 Older

by 



















