Brace yourself. We've got fullback news to report!
From KFFL: Recently released by the New Orleans Saints, FB Mike Karney will visit with the Rams tomorrow.The Saints dumped Karney to sign Heath Evans.
Karney's a blocker, plain and simple, and that's what the Rams are looking for at FB; what they were looking for when they signed Dan Krieder last offseason to be a blocking FB. Karney, who'll be 28 for the '09 season, is a little younger than Kreider, who joined the Rams for his age-31 season.
Like Kreider, Karney comes to the Rams after dealing with a knee problem, a sprained MCL. Karney was able to play after dealing with the injury last season; Kreider was coming of a torn ACL, a nod to the *ahem* rather poor signing practices of the previous regime at Rams Park.
Sando posted the Scouts, Inc. report on Karney at his ESPN NFC West blog over the weekend, confirming his status as a blocker and an occasional pass catcher, very occasional.
Who knows if the Rams will sign him or not. They clearly need a blocker at FB if they plan to get the running game going. If they don't sign him, they can always find a specialist in the late rounds of the draft, though such a player wouldn't come with an NFL track record.
More telling perhaps is the news that the Rams are getting active again in free agency after making a big splash in opening weekend with the Jason Brown signing. After signing Brown and re-signing CB Ron Bartell, the Rams stood pat, working with SS James Butler and likely assessing their cap situation. Could there be some resolution in the salary department, i.e. a pending move with Holt or Pace? It's been suggested around the internet today that the Jets are keen to have Holt on the roster, and later Holt fodder speculated that the Jets might be willing to give up a conditional late-round draft pick.
Still no decision on what to make of Brian Leonard.
[Note by VanRam, 03/09/09 3:58 PM EDT ] In his Twitter feed, the PD's Bernie Miklasz reported (er, tweeted) that the Rams were "making progress" with Jamse Butler. Oh, and if you're down with this whole Twitter thing (whatever the hell it really is) be sure to read the Turf Show Twitter.