BrandonRAMS: Hi Jim,
With Warner uncertain in coming back and Haley getting promoted to HC of the Chiefs, leaving a spot open for OC. How about Martz getting the chance to reunite with Warner? It sounds like a good fit, back in St.Louis Warner put up the greatest numbers of his career. Plus Arizona is a passing team(even though they are not trying to be), and who wouldn't want a offensive passing guru in Martz. Would we be able to see "THE GREATEST SHOW ON TURF(Grass, AZ don't have turf)II". Whats your thoughts on this take?

Jim Thomas: I know Mike can be high maintenance, but no one can deny that he is one of the sharpest offensive minds in modern football. There's no doubt Arizona is a passing team, and Whisenhunt is smart enough to realize that. To me, a key is getting Boldin back. It sounds like if Boldin is back that Warner's back. I'd go for it if I was Whisenhunt.

timmeno: Lets start at the top! Termanate the contracts of: Green(qb) Pittman(rb) Bennett(wr) Bell(og) Hall(dt) Stills(lb) Draft(lb) Johnson(s) Chavous(s) Trade Holt to Tenn for a 2/4th and Pace to wash for 2/4 and Benning(qb). How much cap space will this get us? Then sign fa Ot's barns and move him to ort and foster as a back up,boller-qb,jones-s,foster-rb.?

Jim Thomas: Still is a free agent; he's not under contract. Pittman is making the minimum wage for someone at his position. For now the cap hit makes it next to impossible to cut Bennett or Bell. And Hall was one of the Rams' more effective defensive linemen last season. He led the team in sacks.

dominic: Hey Jim:
Great article in sundays paper pertaining to the cap.You are right on,we need players!
1)I dont care what Drew Bennetts cap number is,get rid of him,hes a bust!And how does he escape a paycut if he doesnt get cut?
2)I love Torry and Orlando,but if they dont agree to a restructure,we need the money for players.Why not Kahlif Barnes of the Jaguars as a tackle?
3)And my first round pick is Crabtree and the best player in the 2nd round whether its a tackle or defensive player.Your thoughts?
4)And does your gut really believe they would cut Pisa? Omg,I hope so!
See you next week!

Jim Thomas: 1.) Do you cut Bennett at the expense of signing other players? Cutting him would reduce the amount of money you have available to sign other players in what already is a fairly tight cap picture. In order to negotiate a pay cut with Bennett, he has to approve. And if he doesn't approve, your only option is to cut him or trade him, which puts us right back to where we were originally with his cap hit.
2.) Khalif Barnes is an interesting name, and he has some skill at left tackle. But he's also had some off-field issues which much be considered before signing him to a big contract.
3.) Myself, I'd only go Crabtree if the Rams already had a starting tackle in the fold via free agency.
4.) I don't know about Pisa. The only reason I mentioned him in Sunday's article is that if Witherspoon moves to weakside linebacker, where does that leave Pisa?

Ray: Jim:
I read your article regarding the cap. Bottom line is we have to trade Holt and/or Pace. I know it's easier said than done. But you mentioned that Tennessee had offered their first round pick last year for Holt. I would reignite that trade possibility with Tennessee. I would even take a second round pick for Holt at this point, and I think a team might be willing to do that. With three picks in the first two rounds, we could draft Crabtree at No. 2, and could also grab a starting offensive linemen to replace Pace, and an impact defensive player. Your thoughts?

Jim Thomas: Again, the problem with the trade scenario is that you'd need to make the trade right away. (That is, by Feb. 27, the start of the free agency period) There's no need in getting millions of dollars in cap space if the trade takes place on the Day 1 of the draft. All of the top free agents will be gone by then.

tds: Hi Jim,

Thank you so much for these frequent chats during the off-season.

I'm intrigued with the idea of selecting B.J. Raji, the DT from Boston College using our #2 overall pick in the first round. Raji was dominant at the Senior Bowl and had an excellent senior year at BC. I'm also liking the idea of pairing him with his college teammate Ron Brace, DT from Boston College, using our second round pick, who is has prototypical NT size (assuming the Titans don't take him at #30 overall to replace Haynesworth). Our defensive line could potentially be a dominating unit relatively soon with Carriker moving to LDE, two huge DT's with Raji and Brace (both 320+ lbs), and Chris Long manning RDE. Little would be relegated to spot duty as a situational pass rusher with Carriker possibly moving inside on passing downs. James Hall could also figure in here if the Rams decide to the Giants four DE formation on obvious passing downs (Little, Carriker, Hall and Long).

I know we have many needs at many positions including both offensive tackles, center, backup RB, FB, MLB, Sam linebacker, SS (and possibly others depending on our ability to re-sign Atogwe and Bartell), but I stongly believe that we must address our glaring deficiencies in stopping the run first and foremost. Selecting Raji and Brace could allow them to develop together at the demanding DT position while other needs are addressed in free agency and/or future drafts. In addition, they are at least familiar with playing together on the same units from their days at Boston College. What would be the appeal to Spagnuolo and Devaney of using the Rams' early 2009 draft picks to select a couple of huge DT's to pair with Carriker and Long?

Jim Thomas: Raji AND Brace. Boy, you do want to shore up the run, don't you? You know, I wouldn't discount Spagnuolo being intrigued enough with Raji to take him that high. Remember, this was the worst run defense in terms of yards allowed in Rams franchise history.