Should Rams rethink their veteran purge?

By Steve Reynolds  |   Wednesday, February 28, 2007  |  Comments( 7 )

St. Louis Rams
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What do you do with a player who has appeared in 204 consecutive games, gone to two Pro Bowls and was your starting guard in a pair of Super Bowls?

You unceremoniously dump him.

St. Louis Rams head coach Scott Linehan informed Adam Timmerman Feb. 26 that he would soon be cut, ending the O-lineman's eight-year run with the club.

The move is surprising, though not shocking, and leaves the offensive line dangerously wet-nosed. What impact will the move have on the talented Alex Barron, who is masterful at jumping the snap-count but unfortunately plays offensive tackle? Barron led the league in false start penalties with the veteran Timmerman at his side, and the prospect of the young tackle playing without that calming veteran influence is, shall we say, unnerving.

The move creates $1.3 million in cap room and signals the beginning of a youth movement for the Rams, who have also released veteran LB Dexter Coakley, though they may attempt to re-sign him for less money as a backup.

With the return of fellow "donut brother" Andy McCollum to the lineup by no means a certainty, the Rams will get very young very quickly and may have to suffer through some growing pains.

The average age of the starting line at years end was 25, with Orlando Pace being the only player old enough to have his driver's license when the Rams moved to St. Louis after the 1994 season

If nothing else, the release of the stalwart right guard begs the question: Would the Rams have done the same had Timmerman not suffered a rib injury that cost him his streak, as well as the final three games of the season? What if the O-line had failed to produce in that period or the Rams suffered defeat in one or more of those contests?

The move is a bold one, and while Linehan and the organization trumpet the "that's just part of the game" platitude, one wonders if they would be so willing to embrace the future at this point if the Rams hadn't found success in the final three games of the season.

Make no mistake, the entire "they didn't care much about me here" line of reasoning from Timmerman (referring to the new regime) vs. the "If that was the case, he wouldn't have started 13 games" retort from Linehan is completely irrelevant.

The Rams released Timmerman because he is old, possibly injured and makes too much money; they are gambling that the younger players will gel, therefore rendering the veteran guard dispensable.

Regardless of whether their success at year's end was just an aberration or a sign of positive things to come for the young line, the Rams would have given the bad news to the 35-year-old Timmerman eventually; if the decision had not come this year, then it certainly would have within the next two.

One simply wonders if the Rams would have pulled the trigger so quickly if the streak were still active...

**You can e-mail Steve Reynolds at sreynolds@realfootball365.com.
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