Laws is 9th free agent to sign with Rams/PD

Laws is 9th free agent to sign with Rams
[www.stltoday.com]
BY JIM THOMAS | Posted: Thursday, April 12, 2012 11:20 am

Trevor Laws became the ninth free agent to join the Rams this offseason when the defensive tackle agreed to terms Wednesday night on a one-year deal.

In four seasons with Philadelphia, Laws never lived up to his second-round draft status in 2008 out of Notre Dame.

But he did have value as a rotational player with the Eagles, used specifically in the nickel package because of his interior pass-rush skills.

Laws, 26, started only two games in Philly and figures to be the Rams’ third defensive tackle behind Kendall Langford and a starter to be named later. (The Rams are hoping to get a starting DT out of the draft.)

He had 40 tackles in 14 games last season, with one sack and 16 quarterback hurries; he had four sacks in 2010.

Laws, 6-1, 304, is from Apple Valley, Minn., and was a three-time all-American as a high school wrestler.

Here is the Rams' free-agent scorecard:

Coming

LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar (from New Orleans)

CB Cortland Finnegan (from Tennessee)

DE William Hayes (from Tennessee)

DT Kendall Langford (from Miami)

DT Trevor Laws (from Philadelphia)

G/T Quinn Ojinnaka (from Indianapolis)

WR Steve Smith (from Philadelphia)

G/C Robert Turner (from NY Jets)

C Scott Wells (from Green Bay

GOING

DT Justin Bannan (to Denver)

CB Ron Bartell (to Oakland)

G Jacob Bell (to Cincinnati)

LB Chris Chamberlain (to New Orleans)

P Donnie Jones (to Houston)

WR Brandon Lloyd (to New England)

* * *

Bannan, one of the Rams’ starting defensive tackles last season agreed Wednesday on a one-year deal to rejoin the Denver Broncos. A run defense specialist, Bannan played decently last season for the Rams. He was generally strong at the point of attack, but the more he had to move around the less effective he became as a player.

Bannan was released earlier this offseason in a moved partly related to his salary cap figure ($2.75 million) and partly related to age (he turns 33 next Wednesday). He had 38 tackles and one forced fumble in 15 games with the Rams.

"They got rid of a lot of the so-called older players that had higher cap numbers, and a lot of guys like to start from scratch," Bannan told Denver reporters. "That’s just the way it went."

Bannan played for Denver in 2010, a year in which head coach Josh McDaniels was fired in December and the team set a franchise record for most losses in a season, finishing 4-12.

"I thought I was going to St. Louis to have a better year," Bannan said. "It is what it is. It went downhill and there are a lot of things that happened that are out of your control. All you can do is show up, go to work, and do the best you can."

* * *

In Cincinnati, former Rams left guard Jacob Bell signed a one-year deal and told local reporters that playing for the Bengals "feels like a homecoming." Bell played in college at nearby Miami (Ohio) and is from Cleveland. He was a four-year starter for the Rams, but had his salary cut in half prior to the start of last season, and had the 2012 and 2013 seasons removed from his contract, making him a free agent this offseason.

Bell did not return several text and phone messages by the Post-Dispatch, but told reporters in Cincinnati: "I love coming back to Ohio, and the Bengals are headed the right way."

Bell spent his first four seasons playing for Jeff Fisher in Tennessee, and for a while hoped to re-sign with the Rams and play for him in St. Louis as well. But the Rams never showed more than lukewarm interest in re-signing Bell, who was athletic and played pretty well in space but occasionally got overpowered by bigger defenders.

It's not clear where Bell will play next since since another Bengals free-agent signee, Travelle Wharton, also is primarily a left guard.

* * *

The Rams lost a wide receiver option when Jerricho Cotchery, who made a free-agent visit to St. Louis last week, decided to re-sign with Pittsburgh. They are still in the mix with Cincinnati wideout Jerome Simpson, but so are about thee other teams. Simpson was sentenced to 15 days in jail last week plus three years probation for a felony drug charge involving marijuana. He's facing an NFL suspension as well.