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Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

The Rams' roster requires additional study after a thorough house-cleaning this offseason. With so many new faces, I feel less familiar with the Rams than with the other teams in the division. This initial look at the roster will hopefully help bring some focus.

Donnie Avery's injury and overall health concerns at receiver could influence how many players the Rams carry into the season at the position.

Marc Bulger's broken pinky shouldn't affect the roster as long as he recovers on schedule. Teams must reduce to 75 players by Sept. 1 and 53 players by Sept. 5. Those initial 53-man rosters sometimes change by Week 1 kickoffs. For that reason, I've been focusing on Week 1 rosters when setting baseline expectations for each position.

The chart provides a framework for how many players the Rams might keep at each position heading into the regular-season opener against the Seahawks.

Here's a quick look at which Rams players I might keep on the cutdown to 53 players:

(Read full post)

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Rams have no interest in former Giants receiver Plaxico Burress. Miklasz: "When new head coach Steve Spagnuolo was hired, he stressed the four pillars of his leadership, the four pillars that would rebuild the franchise: (1) Faith; (2) Character; (3) Core Values; (4) Team. Does that sound like Plaxico Burress to you?" Burress could be facing jail time.

Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says bouncing between nose tackle and three-technique tackle hasn't helped first-round choice Adam Carriker. Thomas: "Carriker's first two seasons were slightly disappointing, but in his defense he was bouncing around [from] NT to UT. He's more suited for UT, or 3-technique, it seems, and if he's left there, he might come around pretty quickly. [Clifton] Ryan has been pretty solid in the middle. The rest of the rotation is pretty much up in the air at this point. Rookie Darell Scott probably will be in there, and Orien Harris, too. As for [Claude] Wroten, I expect the Rams to release him as soon as he's reinstated. Of course, I could be wrong about that. But he doesn't seem to fit the Spags profile."

Bill Coats of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Spagnuolo is stressing penalty reduction. Also: "Larry Grant worked with the first unit at strongside LB on Tuesday. That spot is open following the release of veteran Pisa Tinoisamoa. With second-round draftee James Laurinaitis still with the No. 2 unit, Chris Draft was at MLB with the ones."

Mike Swift of the San Jose Mercury News says the 49ers have reached agreement with Santa Clara on financing for a new stadium. Mayor Patricia Mahan: "I believe we have negotiated as far as we can, and we are ready to bring it to the public." The public could get a look at the deal next week.

Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle sizes up the 49ers' stadium efforts this way:"In this corner, there is Jed York, born to the purple and working on behalf of mom and dad to get the Santa Clara deal moving. In the other, there is Carmen Policy, Eddie DeBartolo's old wing man, working on behalf of Lennar, the folks who are trying to make the 49ers a new home at Hunters Point if the Santa Clara thing collapses. And in the middle -- leaning toward Jed -- is Eddie, who is about to be inducted into the 49ers' Hall of Fame, largely on Jed's initiative. We're sure the development is entirely coincidental and meritorious."

Gwen Knapp of the San Francisco Chronicle says the 49ers' other receivers seem to be embracing first-round choice Michael Crabtree, viewing him more as a threat to opponents than to their own playing time. If veteran Isaac Bruce is concerned, it's not showing. He has skipped the voluntary workouts to this point.

John Crumpacker of the San Francisco Chronicle says 49ers players keep getting hurt during organized team activities (OTAs). Crumpacker: "The early diagnosis on [Walt] Harris was a sprained knee, with further evaluation to come. The 49ers are not deep at cornerback. Behind Harris on the depth chart is Tarell Brown and after him, there's Shawntae Spencer, who is coming off a 2008 knee injury that cost him 14 games."

Matt Maiocco of the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat says the best-case scenario for Alex Smith and the 49ers would be for Shaun Hill to open the 2009 season as the starter. I think that depends on how the quarterbacks look during the offseason, specifically during the exhibition games. Is there a chance Smith wins the job and plays well for 16 games? Also, just to be clear, the 49ers also have no interest in Burress.

Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee says the 49ers' depth at receiver is being tested with Bruce away, Crabtree rehabilitating a foot injury and Jason Hill suffering a sprained ankle in practice.

Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic says new Cardinals running back Jason Wright is embracing the opportunity in Arizona. Wright: "It's an offense that puts players in the best position to win. It's an attacking offense, aggressive and it's not reactive. I love that about this offense. It's forward moving and it's very efficient. In fact, I was amazed during our first minicamp at how many completions there were and how few dropped balls and mental errors I saw. That's really rare. But they've got something really crisp going on."

Also from McManaman: Karlos Dansby expresses confidence in the Cardinals' ability to reach a long-term agreement with him.

Carrie Watters of the Arizona Republic details Arizona's failed bid to land the 2013 Super Bowl. New Orleans was more than a sentimental favorite.

Darren Urban of azcardinals.com says Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Adrian Wilson, Sean Morey, Kenny Iwebema, Bertrand Berry and Chike Okeafor did not attend OTAs Monday. Urban expects them to show up later.

Revenge of the Birds' Hawkwind sizes up Cardinals sixth-round choice Will Davis. Hawkwind: "It wouldn't be surprising at all, given the current depth at OLB, for Davis to spend the season on the practice squad. He has zero experience in space [and] his transition to OLB will be more difficult than second round pick Cody Brown. When you add in that he also needs to get stronger and possibly drop some weight, a year on the practice squad seems to make sense. If he does find his way onto the roster, it'll likely be because he's made a name for himself on special teams."

Gregg Bell of the Associated Press says Bryan Pittman's agent confirmed the long-snapper's contract agreement with the Seahawks.

Clare Farnsworth of Seahawks.com says vice president Joe Biden, speaking at Wake Forest's commencement, pointed to Seahawks linebacker Aaron Curry as reason for optimism. Biden: "As a student of history, it's the history behind me and the people in front of me that give me such a degree of optimism. ... It's about Aaron Curry, a scrawny freshman linebacker recruited by only two schools, who worked his rear off, became a Top 5 pick, and is walking off this stage into an opposing NFL backfield. Aaron, I heard you wanted to go to law school -- you were considering going to graduate school. I also heard that your fellow draftees have taken up a collection encouraging you to go. So I'm sure there's a scholarship there if you want it."

John Morgan of Field Gulls outlines 10 keys for the Seahawks on defense. Darryl Tapp's emergence tops the list.

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Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic puts the Kurt Warner retirement talk in perspective. Warner is not going to retire on his team during the season. But at age 37, he does tend to be more reflective when things go wrong. Performances like the one he enjoyed against the Bills make Warner feel like playing forever.

Darren Urban of azcardinals.com explains why Warner contemplated his future recently. Anquan Boldin's injury, coupled with the pressure accompanying a poor performance, made Warner think about life after football. Retirement is something Warner plans to think about after the season.

Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic says the Cardinals are hoping their fans won't sell tickets to Cowboys fans this week. Warner thinks the Cardinals have fought hard for a home-field advantage and he hopes they can enjoy one against Dallas.

Scott Allen of RaisingZona.com does his part in a look at each team in the NFC West heading into Week 6. At least the Cardinals have something to feel good about.

Clare Farnsworth of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer says Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren isn't focusing only on offense this week. He met with defensive coaches and players in an effort to fix what ails that side of the ball. The team might "condense some things" this week.

Also from Farnsworth: Holmgren was somber one day after the Giants pounded his team, 44-6.

Greg Johns of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer says the Seahawks might have to bail on their pass-first identity in favor of running the ball.

Eric Williams of the Tacoma News Tribune also expects Seattle to emphasize the run. That's tough to do when the other team is scoring at will.

Danny O'Neil of the Seattle Times traces the Seahawks' defensive problems to late last season. Pass defense is a primary concern: "Seattle allowed 11 passing touchdowns in the first 15 games last season and has given up 16 in the seven games since."

Also from O'Neil: Matt Hasselbeck should be able to practice this week.

John Crumpacker of the San Francisco Chronicle assesses Frank Gore's skills as a receiver after the 49ers' running back caught a touchdown pass against New England.

Also from Crumpacker: Niners coach Mike Nolan says the team should have a better record because its personnel has improved. Gore says the team will be "fine" this season.

Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee says Vernon Davis' lack of production as a receiver isn't the 49ers' biggest problem, but it's still an issue.

Also from Barrows: Linebacker Patrick Willis keeps the faith.

Matt Maiocco of the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat looks at the 49ers' draft choices since 2005. It's never a good sign for a team when beat reporters start analyzing past draft classes in October.

Also from Maiocco: Gore and Patrick Willis had little to say after the loss to New England even though both are young leaders on the team.

Dan Brown of the San Jose Mercury News thought Nolan was blaming players when he said execution was the 49ers' problem against the Patriots.

Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News says the clock is ticking for Nolan after the 49ers dropped to 2-3 heading into tough games.

Bill Coats of Around the Horns sees a couple of former Rams putting up numbers elsewhere in the division. Kurt Warner and Isaac Bruce are enjoying strong seasons. Also, Clifton Ryan remains the starting defensive tackle for St. Louis, ahead of La'Roi Glover.

Also from Coats: The Rams appear to be responding to Jim Haslett in practice. Linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa cramped up after practicing all-out.

Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says 2008 has gone from a likely breakout season to a breakdown season for Randy McMichael. The tight end landed on injured reserve.

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

After benching Marc Bulger and releasing Fakhir Brown, the Rams charged ahead with more potential changes in practice Wednesday. As Bill Coats of Around the Horns noted:

• Clifton Ryan replaced La'Roi Glover at defensive tackle.
• Chris Draft replaced Quinton Culberson at strongside linebacker.
• Victor Adeyanju worked ahead of James Hall at defensive end.

Adeyanju is the Rams' best defensive lineman against the run. The Rams just allowed 245 yards rushing to Seattle in Week 3. Adeyanju's starting status in practice (at left end) might mean nothing if Leonard Little returns from a hamstring injury.

Culberson had started one NFL game before this season. Draft is a highly experienced veteran. He should also be relatively fresh.

Glover seemed perplexed by the Rams' use of a three-man line at times against Seattle. He has been a very good player for a very long time, but sometimes veterans have a hard time following along blindly when things aren't working. Glover has long been known for his relentless, all-out style. Ryan is also known as a high-effort player.

These moves, justified or not, definitely qualify as hitting the panic button. That's what teams do when they allow 763 more yards than they gain through three weeks.