While the Rams are playing hard to get with free agent wide receiver, saying all the right things, but never quite going all the way, Clayton is going to see if he can get some action somewhere else with a visit and workout planned with the New England Patriots on Friday.
I’m not sure what to make of this. Clayton has said in the past how much he loves St. Louis and the Rams, even going as far as posting his new Missouri driver’s license on Twitter. But, with the Rams insisting they will sign him when he is 100% healthy and not a minute before, could they have forced Clayton into looking elsewhere for assured employment for the 2011 season. Mark Clayton could be using the Patriots as leverage to force the Rams hand. (Talk about reversal of fortune!)
The other angle of this is the fact that the Rams are currently over the salary cap and will need to cut or restructure some salary just to make it under the bar for the beginning of the season. With that being the case, is there even room for Clayton? Did the Rams suggest he should look at other teams because they spent all of their money and will not have room for him until closer to the start of the year?
The Rams seemed to be waiting for their wide receiver competition to shake itself out a little before inserting Clayton into the mix, but no pass catcher has distanced himself (for better or worse) from anyone else. Mark Clayton is still sitting out there freely available coming off a major knee injury and everyone assumed eventually the Rams would sign him to a deal, but it has not yet come to pass. It is impossible to tell if this is merely a smokescreen by Clayton’s camp to get leverage on the Rams who have the upper hand right now or if Mark Clayton is truly attempting to move on from his new “home”.
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