NFL Free Agents 2011: St. Louis Rams Interested in Acquiring Big-Play Receiver

The post-lockout free-agent frenzy is in full whirlwind mode as teams around the league seek to best position themselves in order to move forward as prudently and powerfully as possible.  

The St. Louis Rams are no exception, having already came to terms yesterday with two-time second team All-Pro and 2009 Pro Bowl safety Quintin Mikell, formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Rams aren't done, though, by any stretch. Tony Softli of 101sports.com of St. Louis tweeted:

"I've heard from several league and Rams sources that a big play receiver was high on the Rams draft list, once WR Julio Jones was off the board they went defense. Free agency is no different still looking for the big play receiver."

However, as of Tuesday evening, the receivers were starting to get snatched up. 

As reported by NFL Network (via The Seattle Times), Sidney Rice has agreed to terms with the Seattle Seahawks, reuniting him with Tarvaris Jackson, another former Minnesota Viking.

Steve Breaston has come to an agreement with the Kansas City Chiefs, according to The Kansas City Star. This reunites him with Chiefs head coach Todd Haley, who was once Breaston's offensive coordinator with the Arizona Cardinals.

Names like Sidney Rice, Reggie Bush and Plaxico Burress have all been linked to the Rams.

Earlier, John Clayton of ESPN was one of several sources indicating (h/t Chris Wesseling) that the Rams could be a landing spot for Rice. Yesterday, Softli reported the Rams were "quickly moving" in pursuit of Bush (a great receiver out of the backfield) and Burress.

The best names available at receiver in free agency now include Braylon Edwards, Burress, Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Mike Sims-Walker, Lance Moore and Malcom Floyd.

In my assessment, the top tier only consists of one guy from this list: Edwards. He would qualify as a big-play, big-time receiver.

The rest of this group are a notch below but could be categorized as big-play wideouts too, depending on how liberally one interprets the term "big-play receiver."

It also remains to be seen if the Rams will re-sign Mark Clayton, who had a fast start last season after being traded to the Rams from the Baltimore Ravens.

Shane Gray is a passionate St. Louis Rams fan and covers the Rams year round. Click here to check out the rest of his work.