St. Louis Rams: Analyzing 1-Year Contracts and Player Holdouts

After reading ESPN's John Clayton's article about the rookie wage scale, one-year contracts with free agents and holdouts over contract disputes, it got me thinking, "How does this affect the Rams?"

The Rams don't currently have any players holding out, but they have signed three players to one year contracts. Those players being Mike Sims-Walker, Jerious Norwood and Cadillac Williams.

Three questions come to mind in these situations. Why don't the Rams have any players holding out? Who are potential holdouts for next season? And, why sign those players to one-year deals?

One-Year Contracts

 A very reasonable explanation for the one-year deals is possibly that the Rams don't feel very comfortable signing those players to long term deals. Sims-Walker, Norwood and Williams all have their red flags, but they don't seem severe enough to deter a three-year deal.

Maybe the players wouldn't accept long term deals. Sims-Walker has shown promise in his career and could be one breakout season away from a big money contract. Norwood may want to show other teams that he is fully recovered from knee surgery and deserves a bigger deal at the end of the season. Williams may play significant time in any game this season where he shows why he was a number four overall selection.

The reason I believe they all received short term contracts is because the Rams have a boat load of key players to give extended contracts to following the season. Chris Long, James Laurinaitis, Bradley Fletcher and Ron Bartell will all be in the final year of their contracts at the season's end. By keeping money available, the Rams can extend any of their contracts if they decide to hold out next offseason.

The Rams surprised many people when they decided to go on a spending spree this offseason. The Rams' organization has built this team by drafting the right players who fit the scheme. The one-year contracts indicate that still may be the plan. Next season's draft class is filled with wide receivers like Justin Blackmon, Ryan Broyles, Michael Floyd and Alshon Jeffrey to name a few.

So, maybe the Rams aren't looking to Sims-Walker to permanently take the number one wide receiver job.

At the running back position, I fully expect the Rams to try to retain Williams for multiple seasons just because he has proven to be a very good third down running back. They may choose to let both he and Norwood walk though if they believe that they can come up with the type of guy who is just as capable in the draft.

Holdouts

 Currently, it's not a big surprise that none of the current Rams players are holding out for a new contract. The players who would be potentially holding out right now are Donnie Avery, John Greco, Justin King and Keenan Burton.

Avery has had injury problems and hasn't put up the numbers to demand a big time contract extension like DeSean Jackson has. Greco is no longer a Ram as he was traded to the Browns in the offseason. Justin King is a backup corner and Keenan Burton is a free agent.

It's safe to say that wasn't the greatest draft minus the first round pick of Chris Long.

Next season is when Rams fans should worry about players missing practice time.

With what will be a full offseason next year, there will be more opportunities for players seeking contracts to miss practice sessions. Out of the four players I mentioned earlier, two of them could potentially be holdouts.

Don't expect Chris Long to hold out because he is still getting paid from his massive rookie contract. Also, don't expect Ron Bartell to hold out because he just received a new contract.

James Laurinaitis may have the strongest case. He will be paid a base salary of $500,000 this season and $600,000 next season. For a player on the verge of being elite, that's not going to cut it. Laurinaitis has already established himself as the leader of the St. Louis defense and he will want to be paid like it.

This is where the one-year contracts tie together with holdouts. Not having to guarantee Mike Sims-Walker, Jerious Norwood and Cadillac Williams money next season will open up room for the Rams to extend Laurinaitis' contract before any holdout situation occurs.

Bradley Fletcher could demand more money next year if he has another exceptional season. The Rams staff is very high on him and they believe he can establish himself as a top notch corner. His contract will pay him $480,000 this season and $565,000 next season. If Fletcher continues to improve on his breakout 2010 season, than he could be in position to ask for a new contract down the line.

Wrap-Up

This season, the Rams didn't have too much worry about having to dish out big money contracts to re-sign their own players. Next season, however, could be a very different story. St. Louis might end up in a position where they have to let their one-year contract guys walk in order to lock up their players of the future.