St Louis didn't tag him. Unless they can resign him by next Friday, he becomes an unrestricted free agent. Would you go after him? He's only 5'10" 241 lbs & plays middle linebacker. He had 90 tackles, 28 assists, 4 sacks, 2 interceptions last year & he's only 27 years old. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sp...dline=Rams use no franchise or transition tag Rams use no franchise or transition tag By Jim Thomas Of the Post-Dispatch 02/21/2002 11:09 PM No news was news for the Rams on Thursday. For only the second time in the last seven offseasons, the Rams designated no one as a "franchise player" or "transition player." As a result, defensive end Leonard Little and middle linebacker London Fletcher will be free to shop the market as unrestricted free agents. That's unless the Rams come to contract terms with them before the start of the free agency period March 1. As much as the Rams would like to retain Little and Fletcher, they didn't want to do so at the expense of the costly franchise or transition tags. Each NFL team has one such restrictive tag at its disposal every offseason, either a franchise tag or a transition tag. Or as the Rams did, they can choose to use none. A franchise player gets a one-year offer from the team equal to the average salary of the five highest-paid players at his position. In return, the team gets to match any outside offers. If it declines to match and the player goes elsewhere, the old club gets two first-round draft picks as compensation. A transition player gets a one-year offer equal to the average salary of 10 highest paid players at his position. In return, the team gets matching rights, but no compensation if the player signs elsewhere. It would have cost the Rams $5.699 million to put a franchise tag on Little and $4.975 million to name him their transition player. Fletcher's franchise tag would have cost $5.515 million, his transition tag $4.573 million. After some recent signings, the Rams have less than $4 million available under the salary cap. In other developments, the Rams have signed two exclusive rights free agents to one-year deals: Safety Willie Gary ($300,000) and wide receiver/kickoff returner Yo Murphy ($375,000). Exclusive rights free agents have fewer than three years experience. The Rams signed WR Francis St. Paul to a one-year, $225,000 deal. A sixth-round draft pick last April, St. Paul spent part of last season on the Rams' practice squad. Free agent WR Eugene Baker (formerly with Atlanta) was signed this week.
Depends on the price... he seems to have good pass coverage skills for a LB... but can he rush the passer? Seems like that's all-important in Caper's scheme, especially since our new defensive line is more geared to stopping the run.
It also looks like Cowart from Buffalo could be available as well. He's 26 years old, but is 6'2" 245 lbs. The only problem with him is that he's coming off of season ending surgery for a torn achilles tendon. Reports are that his rehab has come along nicely, but do you take the chance? If he returns to his form in 2000, you'll have another stud linebacker. I know that we can't get 4 stud linebackers, but I've read reports that the Texans are going to try & acquire at least one veteran linebacker in free agency. Cowart had 181 total tackles, 5.5 sacks, 2 interceptions, & 1 forced fumble. Here's the link to the story. http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20020222/1000470.asp
From Len Pasquarelli's article on ESPN: Assuming that this is true, I'd imagine that Hardy would be a possibility for the much needed outside LB position. His 10.5 sack season came under Capers, and the Jags have had salary negotiation problems with him in the past. Also, I know that in the 3-4 the middle backers are generaly not required to be as big as the guy in a 4-3. There's some specific reason having to do with 'gap management' or something, but I can't remember exactly what.
i think the Sam Cowart idea is brilliant. Cowart is still young, and i remember two years ago before he was injured, they tagged him as the best middle linebacker not named Ray Lewis. If he is truly healthy, i would take the risk. As for Kevin Hardy, i would only sign him for less than two million dollars, and for no more than three years. He's on the downside of his career.
I am a big Fletcher fan, but the LB FA crop is probably the deepest of any position this year. We need OLB's more than ILB's, to get our 3-4 zone blitz scheme working the way it can.
If the price is not too high, I'd love to have Fletcher on my team. I've been a big fan of his since he joined the NFL. He would be fantastic in our system, IMO, a perfect fit. The only downside would be that if we do get him, then I'm really not going to be able to wait for next season.
london fletcher is the creator and proud owner of, quite possibly, the worst nickname in... dare i say it, the entire history of mankind: dot.com. why dot.com? because he's always online... get it? me either. for that reason alone, i'd like the texans to steer clear. homey doesn't play lame nicknames. i think free agent dollars (they don't have a lot, btw) will go to (they hope) an edge-rushing OLB and, likely, one of the 2 or 3 good, young Cs likely to be available. btw, did anyone else hear david carr and his family were the victims of a hit-n-run? seriously, happened, i think, last night. anyway, it's being reported he was wearing a texan cap at the accident's scene. i'll say this for the new team -- they're kind of foreign to the idea of secrets.
