Jacob Bell signs with Rams

[holt_bruce81]

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=NFL&id=2843

Huge signing for the Rams.

[Cashmoney]

Mother ******!!!!!!!!!!

[Pit Bull #53]

Bell is a good player. He moves well and has great feet, probably one of the more nimble guards in the league. His only real weakness is strength. Doesn't get much push at all in the run game. For him to be effective as a run blocker he needs to be on the move and in space. He's good at pulling.

[BamaFalcon59]

Honestly I think the Titans are losing a lot in free agency. Antwan Odom, Travis LaBoy, Jacob Bell, Ben Hartsock,

[KCJ58]

Hooray The Rams signed a player!!!

[Cashmoney]

Honestly I think the Titans are losing a lot in free agency. Antwan Odom, Travis LaBoy, Jacob Bell, Ben Hartsock,

Not to mention, our other starting guard is gonna retire.

[OzTitan]

Honestly I think the Titans are losing a lot in free agency. Antwan Odom, Travis LaBoy, Jacob Bell, Ben Hartsock,

Loper and Amano have shown they can come in at G and play well, so there is depth there. DE is a hole now but on a DL with AH and KVB, two pro bowlers, you have to wonder just how much of Odom's and LaBoy's combined production was them or just solid players in an ideal situation. As for Hartsock, well, I'll take Crumpler thanks ;)

[bearsfan_51]

Good signing. Bell isn't for every scheme, but I think he can work well for the Rams. I'm glad he didn't go to the Packers.

[NGSeiler]

Very good signing for the Rams. This either creates a competition @ RG between Incognito and Setterstrom, moves Setterstrom inside to center, or moves him to the second team where he's a quality backup.

[OzTitan]

Rams like to run a few counters and stretches and the likes no? Bell will definitely be suited for that. As Pit Bull said, he is great in space and quite quick footed.

[freebirdsrams02]

This is a big pick up for the Rams. With all the injuries and age on the Ram O-Line last year we needed something new.

[eaglesalltheway]

To be honest I hadn't heard of the guy until this thread was put up, but I looked back over some info on him and think this will definitely help the Rams sieve of a front line.

[eaglesalltheway]

Not to mention Jackson will be a little happier with the guys in front of him.

[Thunder&Lightning]

good rams sign. he will help out some.

[toonsterwu]

This could be a really telling move on their draft intentions as well. I like the move.

[D-Unit]

I liked Bell coming into the NFL. He's done nothing short of expectations. Good pick up by the Rams.

[diabsoule]

Great addition by the Rams.

[zoinks]

From the article:

Rams agreed to terms on a six-year contract with LG Jason Bell.
He's likely getting about $4 million a year.

I'll be quite surprised if that's the case. $4M/year seems quite reasonable for a starter of Bell's caliber....if that's all he was asking, I'd think the Titans would have hung onto him. I'm guessing it ends up being in the range of $5M+ /year. (Bell is a Drew Rosenhaus client, after all.....and the Shark don't do nothin' on a budget. ;) )

That said.....

This is an excellent signing for the Rams. As the others have mentioned, Bell's not going to maul anyone, but he's got excellent mobility, and is very good at getting to the second level and clearing out LB's. (Just don't let them try to move him to RT....Titans tried that for a couple weeks in '06. It wasn't pretty. ;) )

[yodapoop]

Its 11:13 p.m. on Monday, March 3rd, 2008 and the Rams still suck balls!

[holt_bruce81]

Its 11:13 p.m. on Monday, March 3rd, 2008 and the Rams still suck balls!

Patient.

Rams are not going to fix all their problems through free agency. This is a good signing, it's a step in the right direction.

[yodapoop]

Patient.

Rams are not going to fix all their problems through free agency. This is a good signing, it's a step in the right direction.

Signing Tony Banks and The Boz would be a step in the right direction. A step in the right direction would be canning Linehan and hiring someone that knows a frick about football.

[BlindSite]

Honestly I think the Titans are losing a lot in free agency. Antwan Odom, Travis LaBoy, Jacob Bell, Ben Hartsock,

But hey, they picked up an aging injured tight end.

[Cashmoney]

But hey, they picked up an aging injured tight end.

At the price we got him for in this market, Crumpler is definitely an upgrade over Hartsock, and Ben "No Hanz From Germany" Troupe.

[BlindSite]

I'll be honest I wanted him, but I'm happier with the cap space and Jeff King.

[OzTitan]

The cap space? 2yrs for $5M hardly registers on the cap total these days.

[D-Rod]

This could be a really telling move on their draft intentions as well. I like the move.

You could actually argue it either way.

A. It shows that they are serious about addressing the O-line, and will look to Jake Long.
B. It shows that they've added something to the O-line, and now there isn't really a place for Jake Long.

Personally, I'd suggest the latter. When there was a hole at OG, it could be argued (and was) that they could draft Long as a long-term replacement (forgive the inevitable pun) for Pace, and give him a year or two at OG until Pace retired. Now, there's no real hole at OG - though Long would, of course, be an upgrade - and he becomes something of a luxury, especially in comparison to their weakness on the D-line, which has not been addressed.

[Geo]

6 years, $36M, $13M guaranteed with a $7M signing bonus. (http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/rams/story/37C561DF448B5A9E8625740200190470?OpenDocument) The Rams paid a pretty penny to get the guy they very much wanted.

[art vandelay]

6 years, $36M, $13M guaranteed with a $7M signing bonus. (http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/rams/story/37C561DF448B5A9E8625740200190470?OpenDocument) The Rams paid a pretty penny to get the guy they very much wanted.

Wow...that's a heck of alot.

[NGSeiler]

Seems like a pretty reasonable price to me. Bell was essentially the #2 guard on the market, and the Rams got him at a price much closer to the deals Woody and Smiley got than what Faneca got from New York. I'm fine with that, especially since $6 million of the $13 million guaranteed is made up of his first two years of salary.

[holt_bruce81]

Signing Tony Banks and The Boz would be a step in the right direction. A step in the right direction would be canning Linehan and hiring someone that knows a frick about football.

Yea because Injuries had NOTHING to do with how bad the Rams were last year. The hole offensive line was a bunch of 2nd and 3rd string guys.

Granite Linehan did make some bad decisions through the season, theres no denying that. But give him a healthy team, let him learn from his mistakes before you throw him under the bus.

Signing Devaney, and Saunders were great moves this offseason. And it looks like he's learned he can't win by just signing FOSL's.

[yodapoop]

Yea because Injuries had NOTHING to do with how bad the Rams were last year. The hole offensive line was a bunch of 2nd and 3rd string guys.

Granite Linehan did make some bad decisions through the season, theres no denying that. But give him a healthy team, let him learn from his mistakes before you throw him under the bus.

Signing Devaney, and Saunders were great moves this offseason. And it looks like he's learned he can't win by just signing FOSL's.

We were healthy all of 2007, we were 8-8.

[holt_bruce81]

We were healthy all of 2007, we were 8-8.

So Pace didn't miss 8 games that year?

8-8 for a rookie head coach is pretty good.