RAM NOTEBOOK / MIKE REILLEY : Defensive End Young Gets Offer; Top Compensation Assured
The Rams extended an offer sheet to restricted free agent Robert Young for $649,000 Thursday, securing a first-round draft pick as compensation if another team signs him.
Steve Feldman, Young’s agent, said he expects the Rams to work out a multiyear contract with Young, a defensive end, “in the near future.”
“We expect a number of other teams to take a look at Robert,” Feldman said. “But giving up a No. 1 pick is something they would be leery of. The Rams have made it clear that he’s a foundation player for them.”
The Rams’ offer to Young was nearly $500,000 more than what he made last season, his third in the league. It was the league minimum for securing a first-round pick as compensation; otherwise, losing Young would be worth a fifth-round pick, the round they took him in the 1991 draft.
Young had seven sacks last season before missing 10 of the final 11 games because of a knee injury. Feldman said Thursday that Young “is completely rehabilitated and ready to go.”
Besides Young, the Rams extended offer sheets to their six other restricted free agents: cornerbacks Robert Bailey and Dexter Davis, fullback David Lang, linebacker Roman Phifer, defensive tackle David Rocker and offensive lineman Jeff Pahukoa.
Rocker, also a Feldman client, was extended an offer sheet of $298,000, the minimum for a restricted free agent.
Player contracts expired Thursday. April 18 is the deadline for signing offer sheets for restricted free agents.
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Executive Vice President John Shaw said the Rams will entertain trade talks for quarterback Jim Everett, adding that he “definitely has market value.”
The trading period opens today, although a source within the organization said the team doesn’t expect to work out a deal for at least another week or two.
Trading Everett is the best option, because the Rams would not only receive some form of compensation but also retain the “transition player” designation they placed on him last year. If they waive Everett, they lose the transition pick.
The extra transition designation would mean the Rams could maintain the right of first refusal on one of their young stars, such as Jerome Bettis, down the road.
Teams must tender transition players a one-year contract at the average of the 10 highest salaries of players at that position when their contracts expire.
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The Rams did not retain the rights of rookie wide receiver Phillip Bobo, who was on injured reserve last season with a knee injury. The team held exclusive rights on Bobo.