PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : RAMS : Robinson Says Doug Reed Is Through

The Ram career of disgruntled defensive end Doug Reed is over, Coach John Robinson finally conceded Saturday. Reed, who is unsigned and in January turned down an offer from the Rams to pay him $550,000 a season, was a starter last year, but Robinson said there was now “zero” chance Reed would be welcome at training camp and left open the possibility Reed could be soon released if the team can’t trade him.

As of last week, the Rams had lowered their offer to $130,000 per season, an offer Reed’s agent, Peter Funsten, would not consider. After turning down the earlier offer, the Rams exposed Reed in Plan B, but he received little interest.

“We put him on Plan B so he could make a deal for himself, he did not, and now we’ve told his agent he has the permission to contact anyone in the league and we would be very receptive to what they came up with,” Robinson said. “We’re not trying to hold anybody up or anything like that.”

And Robinson strongly denied that Reed, who is asking that the Rams simply release him if they don’t want him, is being punished for refusing to agree to a deal.

“Why would you say he’s being punished? What is there that we’re doing that is punishing him in any way? He asked to be put on Plan B, we said, ‘Well, we’d like to sign you, we’ll pay you $550,000 a year, which is a high salary.’ He said, ‘No, I’m much too valuable for that, I’m going on to Plan B.’ . . . If he is in fact, that valuable, isn’t it the Rams’ right to seek a trade and give him permission to go anywhere he wants to go? What’s punishment about that?”