Rams : As Season Approaches, Holdouts Start to Bend
With the season opener creeping up on the Rams, Sunday seemed to be a nice day to start catching up on some business.
Tackle Robert Cox agreed to terms on a new contract and, barring any last-second snags, will end his holdout and report to practice today.
Tailback Greg Bell is close to ending his holdout, sources say. The parties have reportedly agreed on base salaries and are only haggling over incentive clauses.
Agent Steve Feldman wouldn’t comment Sunday, saying only that he was “working feverishly” on the Bell case.
Bell met with John Robinson Friday morning to see where he stands with the coach. Robinson wouldn’t reveal details, but the feeling is that Bell would be welcomed back with open arms.
“That’s private,” Robinson said of the meeting. “There’s no sense having a conversation with somebody if it’s public. Then we ought to come in here and do it and let you guys sit around.”
Bell was the National Football League’s fourth-leading rusher last season with 1,212 yards while leading the league with 18 touchdowns.
If Bell signs this week, it would leave first-round fullback Cleveland Gary and tight end Damone Johnson as the remaining holdouts.
The Gary negotiations, which crawled along for so long, are apparently picking up steam. Gary’s uncle and agent, Willie Gary, is scheduled to resume conversation with Rams’ general counsel Jay Zygmunt today. You want progress? Two weeks ago, the sides were more than $2 million apart.
And in case you’re wondering, the Rams say there’s room for both Bell and Gary in the backfield, even as Gaston Green improves by the week.
Robinson said Green’s two fumbles Saturday night didn’t detract from his 73-yard, two touchdown performance.
“If that becomes something chronic, then you say ‘Whoa,’ ” Robinson said of the fumbles. “But I don’t think that’s a problem.”
Questions of Green’s durability have haunted him since his college days, and he sat out last week’s game with a thigh bruise. But he held up well against a rough Minnesota Viking defense. “What we were looking for we saw,” Robinson said, “the quickness and potential breakaway ability. And he got banged around pretty good. I’m much more confident about him just as a player now than I was a year ago, certainly. . . . I’m comfortable with him in a game against anybody. The Vikings and the (Chicago) Bears are the two clubs where you tend to hunch your shoulders a little bit if you’re a runner, and he gave a good account of himself, I thought.”
And what of Damone Johnson? He had a chance to report last Monday with a promise the team would begin renegotiating his $200,000 contract. Johnson wants a new contract before he reports. Johnson had 42 receptions for the Rams last season.
Ram Notes
John Robinson said he is not immediately interested in running back Lionel James, released by the San Diego Chargers Saturday. . . . The Rams’ biggest concern coming out of Saturday’s game is at inside linebacker, where starters Larry Kelm (foot) and Fred Strickland (knee) remain sidelined with injuries. Kelm’s foot injury will keep him out of next week’s game against Detroit. “We hope to have him healthy for Atlanta and not limping,” Robinson said. Strickland is recovering from arthroscopic surgery and is questionable for the opener in two weeks. The two inside spots have been shared by Richard Brown, Byron Darby, Mark Messner, and converted outside men Frank Stams and Mel Owens. “I don’t know that we were particularly impressive with kind of that inside cluster of people,” Robinson said.
Right guard Tony Slaton’s knee continues to give him problems and he may need a day or two off this week. . . . The Rams escaped the Viking game without serious injury.
