wayne reed: Jim,
it feels like the Rams are in a hopeless situation for the immediate future. Icognito, Witherspoon, Carriker, Bell and Greco are all players whose best position is debatable. Klopfenstein and Leonard were horrible second round picks. Stafford or Sanchez may be the asnswer at QB but the Rams are stuck with Bulger's huge contract. I can't understand why fans feel the need to list which positions are a priority area. Every position is or should be up for grabs. The Rams first round pick should be the player they feel is most likely pro bowl caliber regardless of position. This notion that any particular position is set is ridiculous. The Rams defense has been very bad for a long time. Jackson is the only proven stud on offense. I feel better about Spags and Devaney than those fron the past but whew---where do you start?

Jim Thomas: I still start with the offensive line. But you're right. There are many needs, and it's not going to happen overnight. It will take a couple of good offseasons.

Tim: If the Rams are able to pick up Josh Brown to play Canter that would eliminate the need for Alex Mack. If that happens I think the Rams need to take Herman Johnson OG(6-7 386) and a nasty player from what a hear him and Grecco I think would be the best Guard duo in the league then if Gross hits FA snag him up we have a solid heavy line.
Gross Johnson Brown Grecco Bell. I would take that anyday

Jim Thomas: I'm assuming you need Jason Brown, the free agent center from Baltimore. He's 320 pounds _ about 30 pounds heavier than any center the Rams had last year, and an ascending player who's entering his second contract. (He's got four years in the league.) To me, these are the ideal free agents you should go after, not "names" who are already on the career decline by the time they get here. (Dexter Coakley, La'Roi Glover, even Corey Chavous to some degree. All high character, high-effort players, but all players the Rams signed one contract too late.)

Todd from Michigan: Hi Jim great job as always and thank you for your time.
Jim I have 2 questions for you. 1) I heard a lot of rumors regarding Matt Birk center for the Vikings, was wondering if it would cost us a third round pick or maybe someone like Tinosomoa.
2) I heard you on Bernie's show hint at something you heard on Torry Holt was wondering if it was for one of the Giants 2nd round picks.

Jim Thomas: 1.) Birk is scheduled for unrestricted free agency, so it won't cost anything to get him, except a lot of money!
2.) I probably shouldn't have teased the listeners. I'll try to elaborate on the Holt stuff sometime during the offseason.

Tim: What kind of contract do you thin Dunta Robinson will get 3 Yrs 18 mil sounds good to me. Do you think tha Rams will shoW interest?

Jim Thomas: I really don't know. I'll be curious to see if the dollars are thrown around like they are in the past because of the economy and becuase of the uncertainty on the NFL labor front.

Todd from Michigan: Hi Jim and thank you
Jim when you trade in the NFL don't you keep your players salary for the remainder of the year? Isn't this why we see more trades for draft picks then player for player because of the cap ramifications.

Jim Thomas: The cap ramifications for trading a player are the same as cutting him. Any unamortized signing bonus stays with the old team, and instead of being spread out over the length of the contract it all counts against the team's cap for the year that they traded him. Let's say a player signed a five-year contract that included a $10 million signing bonus. For cap purposes, the signing bonus counts $2 million against the cap for each of those five seasons. Now let's say he's traded prior to the second year of his deal. Well, the $2 million a year signing bonus cap charge for the remaining four years of the deal all counts on that year's cap _ $8 million _ once he's traded. It's call "acceleration." Don't know if I explained it well enough, but that's how it works. And it's what makes it hard to trade or cut players early into big contracts.