It's been up for a couple days now, but upon reading it a second time I have to agree with the Post-Dispatch's Jeff Gordon about signing Bulger. There's other way for the Rams to get a QB of his caliber, unless they get a top-ten draft pick (not likely) and develop the next big thing. The problem with that, obviously, is the time involved. If they go the other way, i.e. free agency which they'd have to do in order to be competitive without Bulger next season, there's nobody they could get to match his production without paying as much or more than it would cost to lock up Bulger for 4/5 more years through the prime of his career.
Cost wise, locking him up at a deal that pays around $10 million per season insulates the Rams from inflation as the years go by, and when other teams are paying $10 million a year for Jake Delhomme, the Rams will have a QB worth $13 million per season at the bargain price of $10 million. As the cap increases year to year (a fairly safe assumption) that contract won't eat up as much of the Rams total space as the years on Bulger's deal pass. The more I read about the market for players in pro sports and free agency, the more I favor long term contracts for team leaders and marquee players.
On a related note, SI ranks the NFL team owners, putting Frontiere at #21 and reminding us that the purse strings are firmly in the control of team president John Shaw. With Martz gone, and Linehan here there are better time ahead. Still, the real test for Shaw will be how the team handles Bulger's situation.