RAMS : Perry Expected to Sign Soon, May Practice Next Week
The Rams’ long, uncertain wait for offensive lineman Gerald Perry is rounding into its final days.
Perry, who has been in a Denver-area prison since May serving time for sexual assault and violation of probation, is expected to be released this weekend and begin practicing with the Rams by early next week, Ram Coach John Robinson said Friday.
“My expectation is he’ll be on the practice field Tuesday, possibly Monday,” Robinson said.
Perry, acquired in a draft-day trade with the Denver Broncos, is scheduled to go home to South Carolina for a day or two after his release before reporting to camp.
Perry apparently has agreed to a two-year deal with the Rams, and is expected to sign it as soon as he is out of prison.
Because Perry was suspended for much of last season because of legal problems, his old contract hasn’t officially expired--suspended time does not count as service time in a contract.
The 305-pound tackle couldn’t have been traded if he was officially a free agent--NFL rules forbid trading a player without a contract. The Rams traded running back Gaston Green, currently the Broncos’ starting tailback, and a 1992 fourth-round draft pick to Denver for Perry and a 1992 12th-rounder.
“I’m anxious to see him,” said offensive line Coach Hudson Houck. “It’s like in college when you recruit a guy, you have an idea, but you can’t wait to get him in and see how he is.”
Robinson, who said this week that Perry probably could play in an exhibition game days after reporting to camp, backed off from that opinion Friday.
If Perry reports Tuesday, he will have three days of two-a-day workouts before the team leaves for Jacksonville, Fla., where it opens its exhibition season next Saturday against the Atlanta Falcons.
“Let’s wait until he gets here and see how he is and how things go (before deciding if Perry will play),” Robinson said.
The Rams recently spoke with Perry, who told them he is in the best shape he has been in for a while. With the offensive line decimated by injuries and holdouts, Perry, if he’s in shape, could walk straight into the Rams’ starting left tackle spot.
But there are some questions about how well-conditioned Perry will be after his jail time, and if he has lost weight.
When he was not troubled by off-field turmoil, Perry, 26, was by all accounts an outstanding offensive lineman, naturally fitted to play the tackle responsible for protecting his quarterback’s blind side.
The team apparently is not close to agreeing to a deal with starting left tackle Irv Pankey or backup tackle Robert Cox, leaving right tackle Jackie Slater as the only veteran tackle in camp until Perry arrives.
The team is now alternating free agent Dustin Quinton and draft pick Neal Fort at left tackle.
What’s holding up the Rams’ negotiations with No. 1 choice Todd Lyght? Beyond the normal haggling over dollars, both sides seem to be waiting for players drafted around Lyght to set a market price for the fifth overall pick, and so far, after No. 2 overall pick Eric Turner cashed in for $1.5 million a year, nothing else has clarified the market.
Lyght’s agent, Bob Woolf, also represents the fourth overall pick, linebacker Mike Croel, and originally expected to have the traditionally generous Denver Broncos sign Croel to a deal that would force the traditionally tough Rams to ante up more than $1 million a season.
But, in a bit of a surprise, Croel apparently is far from a deal. Woolf said this week that he and Denver are $300,000 per season apart.
And behind Lyght, Nos. 7 and 8, Tennessee tackles Charles McCrae and Antone Davis apparently are rivals and neither wants to sign first for fear of letting the other top him.
No. 6 Eric Swann has muddled the picture by signing early with Phoenix for a rock-bottom $800,000 a year.
The Rams are offering Lyght a five-year, $4.5-million package including a $1.5-million signing bonus; Woolf has countered with a four-year, $5.7-million proposal with a signing bonus of more than $2 million.
Linebacker Fred Strickland’s history of injuries has thrown contract negotiations into a stalemate.
The Rams apparently are arguing that because Strickland has not ever put a full season of consistent, injury-free play together, they can’t pay him more than about $400,000 a year--below the average starting NFL linebacker salary.
Strickland’s agent, Bruce Allen, said Strickland has proved he can play effectively in the NFL, was penciled in as the team’s starting left linebacker before training camp began, and cannot accept any contract that doesn’t reflect that.
“I think the problem in negotiation is people try to pay off the prior season’s performance,” Allen said. “I try not to do that. I try to project what is this player going to do in the upcoming year, that’s what you’re paying for.”
Allen is seeking a one- or two-year deal worth upward of $500,000 a season. The Rams are proposing a series of either one-, two- or three-year packages that begin at about $395,000 for 1991.
Robinson said that although the idea had some appeal, the team wasn’t particularly interested in acquiring disgruntled San Diego Charger defensive lineman Lee Williams, who walked out of camp and is demanding a trade.
“You know, we’re more interested in (defensive) tackles, and one of his frustrations, as I understand it, is that he has been asked to play tackle,” Robinson said.
“That’s where we need the help, and I don’t see us moving (current starting defensive ends) Karl Wilson or Kevin Greene, obviously. But we’ve got to look at all possibilities.”
The Rams signed former Notre Dame defensive back Brandy Wells and released linebacker Sean Mulhearn. . . . Receiver Derrick Faison injured his left rib cage Friday when he hit the ground lunging for a pass. . . . Linebacker Brett Faryniarz missed the afternoon practice suffering from swelling around his left knee.