The St. Louis Rams continue t ... ·

01 Aug 2024, 00:00

The St. Louis Rams continue to tell quarterback Kurt Warner that the two-time NFL most valuable player is in their plans for next season, according to Warner's representative.

But the Rams have sent signals to the contrary, particularly with this week's signing of veteran quarterback Chris Chandler. And agent Mark Bartelstein acknowledged he and Warner can't be certain that Warner will remain with the team he led to two Super Bowls during a three-year stretch that qualified as one of the most unlikely success stories in league history.

"I don't know,'' Bartelstein said by telephone Tuesday afternoon. "Everything they've told us is, he's going to be there. You just kind of have to take them at their word.''

Rams officials also have maintained publicly that they don't intend to part with Warner. Coach Mike Martz has said that Warner and last season's starter, Marc Bulger, will compete in training camp for next season's starting job.

But the signing of Chandler raises plenty of questions. He agreed to a three-year, $2.6-million contract with the Rams on Monday, only three days after he was released by the Chicago Bears.

An NFL team, if it keeps three quarterbacks on its 53-man roster, generally reserves the third spot for a young, developing quarterback. So it would be odd for the Rams to have both Chandler, 38, and Warner, 32, as backups if Bulger, who turns 27 next month, retains the starting job.

Chandler also seems better suited than Warner to serve as Bulger's mentor. The two were together briefly with the Atlanta Falcons in the 2000 season and got along well. Chandler also gets along well with Martz, who was the Los Angeles Rams' quarterbacks coach in 1994 when Chandler played for the club. Warner's relationship with Martz, meanwhile, has been tested in the past few years by some unusually public verbal sparring, some of which was initiated by Warner's wife, Brenda.

"I haven't heard of him being offered around,'' said a front-office executive from another NFL team, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he didn't want to be viewed as meddling in the Rams' business. "I know they haven't called us. But they signed Chandler, and that makes you wonder.''

Warner was the darling of the NFL between 1999 and 2001, when the former grocery bagger and graduate of NFL Europe and the Arena Football League threw for 12,612 regular-season yards and 98 touchdowns. He got his chance because of an injury to Trent Green and he turned the offense of former coach Dick Vermeil and Martz into "The Greatest Show on Turf.'' He looked like he was en route to crafting the most improbable of Hall of Fame careers.

He hasn't looked like the same quarterback since, however. Bulger led the Rams to a 6-1 record in 2002 after Warner got hurt. The team had started 0-5 under Warner and Jamie Martin. Warner reclaimed the job but quickly handed it back to Bulger last season, and Bulger threw for 3,845 yards and led the Rams to a 12-4 record and a first-round playoff bye.

But Bulger threw as many regular-season interceptions (22) as touchdowns. And Martz, who did not return a telephone message Tuesday, demonstrated some distrust in his inexperienced quarterback when he settled for a tying field goal instead of trying for a winning touchdown in the final seconds of regulation in the Rams' double-overtime loss to the Carolina Panthers in the NFC semifinals.

Bulger is a restricted free agent now, but the Rams gave him the highest tender offer of $1.824 million -- meaning that another team would have to surrender first- and third-round draft picks to St. Louis as compensation if it signs Bulger to an offer sheet and the Rams choose not to match it.

The Rams perhaps could trade Bulger and add a young quarterback to go with Warner and Chandler. They perhaps could keep the unconventional combination of Bulger, Warner and Chandler. But some executives around the league believe it's much more likely that the Rams will trade or release Warner after June 1, when they could defer most of the salary cap hit for his departure until the 2005 season. And, those executives say, the change of scenery perhaps would give Warner a better chance to recapture his quarterbacking magic.

"He just wants to play,'' Bartelstein said. "He wants to get back to being a starting quarterback in this league. He's dying for the chance to play so he can get back to where he was as a player and get back to a Super Bowl.''

Will he get that chance if he stays in St. Louis?

"That's something you'd have to ask Mike Martz,'' the agent said. "It kind of swings back and forth. He'd love to be there. He loves the system. He loves the organization. He loves the city. We'll just have to see.''

Falcons General Manager Rich McKay, the co-chairman of the NFL's competition committee, confirmed during a conference call with reporters this afternoon that the committee will not recommend to owners that major changes be made to the rules governing the ability of assistant coaches on playoff clubs to land head-coaching jobs.

Some coaches had called for a loosening of the current rules, which permit an assistant on a team in the playoffs to interview once with each club interested in him for a head-coaching position, but not to have a second interview or accept a job. But McKay said the committee did not want to risk penalizing playoff teams by having their coaches devote more of their time and attention to the job market. The committee will recommend widening the window during which the first interview can take place from five days to seven, and applying the rule to front-office jobs as well, McKay said.

The competition committee will recommend that the owners approve the use of instant replay permanently, McKay said. The owners previously approved replay three times -- for two terms of one year each and one three-year stint. The committee, McKay said, will recommend that a coach be given a third replay challenge during a game if he uses both of his allotted challenges successfully.

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According to McKay, the committee will recommend that a rule be added to the rule book instructing the officials to assess a 15-yard penalty on the ensuing kickoff for a pre-planned touchdown celebration, especially one involving multiple players. Such celebrations currently can draw penalties based upon a decree by Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, but McKay said the committee wants that codified into the rule book.

The committee will not recommend adding teams to the playoffs or changing the overtime format to guarantee each club at least one possession, McKay said. The Kansas City Chiefs nevertheless plan to propose an expansion of the playoff field and an alteration of the overtime rules at the owners' meetings scheduled for next Monday through Wednesday in Palm Beach, Fla.

Any rules changes would have to be approved by three-quarters of the owners. Recommendations of the competition committee, which wrapped up a nine-day meeting in Naples, Fla., on Friday, generally carry great weight.

Free agent cornerback Bobby Taylor agreed to a four-year contract with the Seattle Seahawks late Tuesday night. The deal is worth about $11 million and includes a $3 million signing bonus. Taylor joins fellow free agent cornerback Troy Vincent, who signed with the Buffalo Bills, in leaving the Philadelphia Eagles. Taylor is reunited with former Eagles coach Ray Rhodes, now Seattle's defensive coordinator. . . .

In his introductory news conference with the Broncos on Tuesday, safety John Lynch recalled landing in Denver about a month ago -- before he was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- and driving past Invesco Field while taking his wife and young children on a ski trip.

"I said to Linda, kind of in passing, 'I've always thought this would be a great place to play,' '' Lynch said.

Lynch picked the Broncos over the New York Jets despite his close relationship with Jets Coach Herman Edwards, his former defensive backs coach in Tampa.

"This was just a place that felt right,'' Lynch said. "I promised myself I would go home [to make a decision] and take the emotion out of it. There were some close relationships in other places. But in the end, I felt like this was the best place for me. This was a bottom-line decision where I followed my gut.''

Lynch said his son Jake has a signed picture of Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer in his room.

"It says, 'Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be strong safeties. Start throwing,' '' Lynch said.

Agent Jerome Stanley, who represents Cleveland Browns wide receiver Dennis Northcutt, said Tuesday afternoon he hopes the Browns would be willing to trade Northcutt to the Baltimore Ravens if their AFC North rival makes a reasonable offer.

"I think everyone should operate in their best interest,'' Stanley said. "If they have something of value to trade, it should get done.''

NFL sources said this week that the Ravens are contemplating the possibility of trading for Northcutt after losing Terrell Owens in the settlement that sent the wide receiver to the Eagles. Northcutt, like Owens, missed a chance to become a free agent last month when he failed to file the paperwork necessary to void the remainder of his contract. But unlike Owens, Northcutt apparently does not have much of a case for getting the verdict overturned. The Browns have given Northcutt and Stanley permission to pursue possible trades, but Stanley declined to discuss his deliberations with Cleveland about whether Northcutt will stay or go. "I don't want to say too much,'' Stanley said. "I really haven't talked too much about this.''. . . .

Defensive end Brandon Whiting, sent from Philadelphia to San Francisco as part of the Owens settlement, underwent a physical with the 49ers but it is not clear whether he passed. He has a torn labrum in his left shoulder that could require surgery. If the 49ers do not pass Whiting, he would remain with the Eagles and San Francisco would receive a third-round draft pick in 2005 from Philadelphia. . . .

Buffalo, after failing to trade for Drew Henson or sign Billy Volek as a free agent, now is looking at free agent Doug Johnson as a prospective backup quarterback. Johnson, who started for Atlanta last season after Michael Vick's injury, also has drawn interest from the 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs. . . . Free agent tailback Garrison Hearst is scheduled to visit Denver today. . . . Free agent defensive tackle Keith Traylor visited New England yesterday as a possible replacement as the Patriots' nose tackle for his former Chicago teammate, Ted Washington, who signed with the Oakland Raiders as a free agent. . . . The Browns are negotiating with free agent linebacker Warrick Holdman, who also is drawing interest from the Rams. . . .

The Bears contacted the Miami Dolphins on Tuesday about a possible trade for star pass rusher Adewale Ogunleye. But the Dolphins want nothing less than the first- and third-round draft choices to which they're entitled if Ogunleye departs via restricted free agency, and the Bears apparently aren't willing to surrender that. . . . The Bills and Cincinnati Bengals are negotiating with Eagles free agent guard Bobbie Williams. . . . Free agent cornerback Terry Cousin, formerly of Carolina, visited Buffalo on Tuesday and is scheduled to visit the New York Giants today. . . .

The Jacksonville Jaguars signed free agent cornerback Juran Bolden, formerly of the Falcons, on Tuesday despite the fact that he is facing a felony charge in Fulton County, Ga., for possession of a stolen vehicle, as well as a misdemeanor charge of possession of less than one ounce of marijuana. Jaguars officials spoke to the district attorney and believe that Bolden is not in serious trouble. He has said that he borrowed the car from a friend not knowing it was stolen and the marijuana wasn't his.. . . . Free agent safety Rogers Beckett agreed to a three-year contract today to remain with Cincinnati. . . . Free agent linebacker Brandon Short, formerly of the Giants, agreed to a contract with Carolina.

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The St. Louis Rams continue t ...

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