Rams Pass on Deal That Would Give Everett His Release

Quarterback Jim Everett is still a Ram, and although the team says it has made no decision regarding his future here, the Rams confirmed Monday that they passed on an opportunity to give him his outright release in exchange for financial considerations.

“We discussed it, but we never had an agreement,” said John Shaw, Ram executive vice president. “If he’s not part of our plans for next year, and we haven’t determined that yet, we will attempt to trade him.”

The Rams must pay Everett, who is due to earn $2.15 million in base salary in 1994, an additional $450,000 the day he reports to training camp next summer.

The team, however, talked in late November with Everett’s agent, Marvin Demoff, about the possibility of freeing itself at season’s end from much of that $450,000 obligation in exchange for Everett’s outright release.

The Rams believed at the time that they would be unable to trade Everett during the off-season because of his poor play in 1993 and huge contract.

The sides agreed to consider such an option once the season was over, but they did not agree on specific financial terms and reached no formal agreement.

At that time, Demoff told The Times it would be best if Everett continued his career elsewhere. Everett has two years remaining on his Ram contract.

Shaw said Monday he was not sure if such a financial arrangement remained open for discussion, but that it no longer mattered because the Rams are not interested.

Demoff could not be reached for comment, and Everett referred all interview requests to Demoff.

Team sources now believe the Rams can trade Everett, receive as much as a conditional second-round draft pick and unload all financial responsibilities on Everett’s new employer.

The NFL trading period opens Feb. 17, and it appears that the Rams’ most pressing need is a quarterback to stake their future on.

“You have to have a quarterback now, a good quarterback,” Ram Coach Chuck Knox said. “I would say that’s an area we need to look at.”

Everett, who turned 31 Monday, completed 49.3% of his passes this season before losing his starting job to T.J. Rubley. In his eight years with the Rams, Everett completed 1,847 of 3,277 passes for 23,758 yards with 142 touchdowns and 123 interceptions.

Everett’s last appearance for the Rams this season came in relief of Rubley on Dec. 5 at Phoenix. He played in 107 games for the Rams, and went 46-59 as a starter. However, in the last four seasons the team went 17-40 under his leadership.

Has Knox decided that Everett must continue his career elsewhere?

“No, I don’t believe that at this particular time,” Knox said. “I haven’t really sat down and thought about it and looked at the options.

“What I’m looking at is who is going to take his place? We have a guy who’s here, and I don’t know what we have to replace Jim Everett. We don’t know what’s going to be out there or what we might have access to. I’m not in a position now to make a definitive statement until we know what’s available.”

The Rams will start shopping in the free-agent market Feb. 17, and Knox said he has been assured by management that the team will be “competitive.” The top free-agent quarterbacks expected to be available are Miami’s Scott Mitchell, Atlanta’s Chris Miller, San Diego’s John Friesz, Detroit’s Erik Kramer and Kansas City’s Dave Krieg.

“We will be very aggressive with free agents,” Shaw said. “We’re going to spend to the salary cap limit.”

Knox praised Rubley’s play down the stretch and said Rubley remains in the running to be the team’s starting quarterback next season.

“He played well enough, that if we had everything else going for us, that we could win football games with him,” Knox said. “I think he’s going to be a good quarterback.”

Knox said the team also will look to the draft to improve itself at quarterback. The Rams will select fifth in the first round and are not expected to have a shot at the top two prospects, Tennessee’s Heath Shuler and Fresno State’s Trent Dilfer, should they decide to make themselves eligible for the draft.

“I don’t think you can address (the quarterback problem) to get immediate help in the draft,” Knox said. “Historically that has not worked.

“We’ve got a number of options . . . obviously we’re looking for an accurate live arm, quick feet and a guy with some height.”

Sounds like Everett, someone suggested.

“He’s got all the skills,” Knox said.

But most likely, those skills will be used elsewhere next season.

Notes

Coach Chuck Knox said the Rams will be looking for more speed during the off-season. “We need to upgrade the overall quality of the team so we can play better special teams,” Knox said. “We need better team speed all the way around.”

Knox said the team will try to strike early in a bid to sign free agents, and will also attempt to quickly re-sign its own 12 unrestricted free agents. “Last year there was a perception among a lot of teams that this thing would drag out to June,” Knox said. “Most of them got signed pretty quick.

“I would like to take what we have right now and add to it,” Knox said. “And then let them compete. We’re going to be in the draft, but we need to be competitive on the free-agent market.”

RAMS ‘93: The Numbers Don’t Lie

A look at the near-final NFL statistics before Monday night’s Philadelphia-San Francisco game helps reveal why the Rams were 5-11 this season. A sample: 18th in the 28-team league in overall offense, 24th in defense, 26th in points scored and 25th in points allowed. They were last in the league in third-down defense, and their special teams were awful (punt returns, 28th, kickoff returns, 23rd, punt coverage, 27th, kickoff coverage, 24th). None of this was ailback Jerome Bettis’ fault. The spectacular rookie, who gained 146 yards on a team-record 39 carries in Sunday’s 20-6 victory over Chicago, wound up second to Dallas’ Emmitt Smith in the league rushing rushing race with 1,429 yards, helpin the Rams finish fifth in running offense.

1993 Season

Record: 5 victories, 11 losses

* Rushing

Att. Avg. TDs Rams 449 4.5 8 Opponents 480 3.9 18

* Rushing Yards

Rams: 2,014

Opponents: 1,851

* Fumbles/Lost

Rams: 20/11

Opponents: 26/9

* Passing

Att. Cmp. TDs Rams 473 247 16 Opponents 488 299 17

* Passing Yards

Rams: 2,790

Opponents: 3,560

* Interceptions/Yards Returned

Rams: 11/127

Opponents: 19/347

* First Downs

Rams: 280

Opponents: 304

* Punts/Average

Rams: 80/40.9

Opponents: 59/42.6

* Time of Possession

Rams: 28:18

Opponents: 31:42

* Scoring by Quarters

1 2 3 4 OT Total Rams 52 40 40 89 0 221 Opponents 72 95 92 108 0 367