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Wadsworth may be
out of Rams' reach
04/04/98
By Jim Thomas
Of the Post-Dispatch Staff
Just two weeks till draft day, and the Rams' clubhouse leader is Curtis Enis. Or shall we say townhouse leader?
The Penn State running back topped off his predraft visit to St. Louis on Monday by taking in the Kentucky-Utah NCAA men's basketball championship at the Vermeil abode.
``My wife cooked him spaghetti, and we watched the game together with Mike White,'' Rams coach Dick Vermeil said.
Pasta and hoops aside, don't rule out Florida State defensive end Andre Wadsworth just yet. The Rams have talked to the Arizona Cardinals about trading up to the No. 3 overall spot for Wadsworth. Trouble is, Big Red owner Bill Bidwill wants everything but the Gateway Arch and the keys to Crown Candy Kitchen for the pick at the moment.
Wadsworth generally is considered the best player in this year's draft pool, although quarterbacks Peyton Manning of Tennessee and Ryan Leaf of Washington State will be selected before him.
In workouts and on game film, Wadsworth has wowed scouts and personnel men with his athleticism, mobility and playmaking ability. He's due to visit Rams Park on Monday.
Even if Wadsworth eludes the Rams, they still could take a defensive end with their first pick on April 18. Keep in mind, Grant Wistrom (Nebraska) and Greg Ellis (North Carolina) dropped in at Rams Park last week.
Wistrom is a quick, relentless player. But in college, he occasionally got smothered by big offensive tackles. In addition, Nebraska players are more likely to be ``maxed'' out once they get to the NFL, given the highly advanced state of conditioning and training in 'Huskerland.
Ellis, on the other hand, probably has more room for improvement -- more ``upside'' as the draftniks like to say. But critics say he could use more of a mean streak and play tougher against the run.
Vermeil on Rypien
Vermeil's take on losing backup quarterback Mark Rypien to the Atlanta Falcons:
``The way I look at it, really, is we didn't lose him. We let him go. We could have stepped up and matched the contract offer, and I think Ryp would have stayed.
``But I told Ryp earlier in the year that I wanted the backup quarterback position to be a competitive position. . . . Last year, we automatically gave it to him. It was not going to be that way this year.''
Vermeil didn't want to pay Rypien the $400,000 signing bonus he's getting from Atlanta, and then have to eat that money if Will Furrer -- or just acquired Steve Bono -- ended up as the No. 2 quarterback to Tony Banks.
The Rams already have more than $3.2 million counting against their 1998 salary cap in ``dead money'' -- signing bonus money to players no longer on the team. ``Too much of that's been going on,'' Vermeil said.
Vermeil said he has no hard feelings about Rypien's decision.
``I respect Mark Rypien as much as any football player I've been around,'' Vermeil said. ``I think he'd make a great football coach. He's extremely competitive. He's very, very bright. He really understands the game. He has a lot of leadership qualities about him.''
Back to Macomb
The Rams are returning to Western Illinois University for training camp in 1998 and '99 because they have received assurances that two existing practice fields will be improved, and a third will be developed to NFL standards.
``Everything else they do up there is super,'' Vermeil said. ``The food, the dorms, the meeting rooms -- they accommodate you in every way they can.''
Vermeil says Macomb is almost too isolated. The nearest major airport is 70 miles away in Peoria, making exhibition-game travel difficult. It also makes it tough to get teams to visit as practice and scrimmage partners.
``But there's some real pluses, too,'' Vermeil said. ``The exclusivity. I like the small-town atmosphere. And I've really enjoyed the people up there.''
The Rams plan to hold 2 days of joint practices with the Indianapolis Colts this summer at the University of Illinois in Champaign. The tentative schedule calls for two practices on July 30, two more on July 31, and one on Aug. 1. Champaign is roughly halfway between the Rams' camp and the Colts' camp sites.
Cap count
The latest NFL salary cap figures show the Rams are $5 million under the 1998 cap of $52.4 million. Seven teams had more cap room than St. Louis, headed by Tampa Bay's $11.4 million. San Francisco had the least amount of cap room -- a mere $42,000.
Several expenditures have eaten away at the Rams' cap room:
> The team has signed five unrestricted free agents from other teams and re-signed three of their own players.
> The team made tender offers to more than a dozen exclusive rights free agents and restricted free agents that played for the Rams last season -- money that counts against the cap for now.
> The $3.2 million qualifying offer to Ryan McNeil as the team's franchise player also counts against the cap even though the cornerback remains unsigned.
The Rams are negotiating with free agents Clyde Simmons (defensive end, Jacksonville) and Chad Cascadden (linebacker, New York Jets). For the moment, talks are on hold with Greg Hill (running back, Kansas City). Obviously, the Rams also will need several million dollars to sign their draft picks.
Wyllie to Oilers
Tony Wyllie, the Rams assistant director of public relations, is leaving the club to become public relations director for the Tennessee Oilers. Wyllie, 30, will be the youngest PR director in the league.
He's the fifth assistant to Rams PR head Rick Smith to become a PR director in the NFL. Rams public relations assistant Duane Lewis will be promoted to Wyllie's spot.
Dome days
The Rams have scheduled a Tag Day and a PSL Family Day at the Trans World Dome at the end of April. The Tag Day is Saturday, April 25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. About 1,000 PSL seats and club seats will be on sale that day.
PSL Family Day is April 26. PSL holders and their families can watch the Rams conduct a minicamp practice in the dome from about 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. that day. A postcard, which PSL holders should be receiving in the mail, is needed for admission.
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