Rams News

Rams bolster offensive line with signing of Simmons
06/04 09:04 PM

By Elizabethe Holland
Of the Post-Dispatch Staff

In the Rams' ongoing quest to fortify their offensive line, the team has snagged the last working Hog.
Tackle Ed Simmons, the only member of the Washington Redskins' storied offensive line who has yet to retire, agreed Thursday to a one-year, $550,000 deal with the Rams that includes a $50,000 signing bonus.
After having spent his entire 11-year career with Washington, Simmons, 34, was released by the Redskins in February. Had Washington kept Simmons, he would have made about $1.7 million this year.
``They had a couple of young football players that were sitting there on the cusp on contractual situations, and they had to put their money in that direction,'' said Rams offensive line coach Jim Hanifan, who coached Simmons for seven years while with the Redskins. ``He was kind of left out in the cold, so this gives him a fresh start.''
Simmons' fresh start will take him away from his longtime position at right tackle and put him at guard. Of his 106 career starts, one has been at guard. But Hanifan, coach Dick Vermeil and Simmons, who visited at Rams Park on May 26 and 27, think he'll have little problem adjusting.
In fact, Hanifan said he had considered playing Simmons at guard while in Washington. But he opted against that move because he preferred Simmons at tackle.
``I didn't want to upset the apple cart there, and just like everything else, you wind up maybe playing a position when really you might have been better off in another spot,'' Hanifan said. ``But I do think that at this particular part of his career, he certainly would be a better guard.''
Simmons, 6 feet 5, 334 pounds, is confident he'll have no problem becoming one.
``I know I can play it,'' he said Thursday from his home in Great Falls, Va. ``Actually, to me, it sounds easier. . . . The tackle position, you're pretty much on an island. And with the guard, you've got a guy on either side of you and you don't have that much space to work in so you just take care of your area and everything else takes care of itself.''
If there is a concern about Simmons, it's not whether he can handle the transition; it's whether his right knee can handle anything. Knee injuries have robbed him of playing time in recent years. However, despite injuries, he started 13 of 16 games last season.
``I've been playing with a sore knee for . . . a good six years, and it's sore,'' he said. ``You play with that. That's what football is all about.''
Football also is about competition, which Vermeil said would be an issue when Simmons comes to town. The lineman will have to fight for a position on the team.
``We'll give him a shot there (at guard) and let him compete,'' Vermeil said. ``He has no guarantees. . . . He's a security blanket. If he can help us, fine. And if he can't, then one of the younger guys has to play, maybe before he's ready. But it's been laid out.
``We're not running a retirement center, so he's got to be a player.''
Simmons said he would be at the Rams' upcoming minicamp, which begins next week.

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