Rams quarterback Marc Bulger has been a major disappointment since landing a big-money extension after holding out for a day or so of training camp in 2007. His passer rating plunged from the low 90s to the low 70s, and it has stayed there for three seasons. More importantly, the Rams have become one of the worst teams in the league.
Now that Bulger is out, possibly for the rest of the year, with a fractured shin, Bulger doesn’t want to talk about whether he’ll be a member of the team in 2010.
“We’ve got six weeks to go in this season and whether I come back this season, we’ll see,” Bulger said Friday, per the Associated Press. “We’ll have plenty of time on the offseason to make those [other] decisions. I don’t want to be a distraction in any way. We’re thinking optimistic around here.”
But let’s think realistic for a moment. According to NFLPA records, Bulger’s base salary will be $8.5 million in 2010. The following year, it moves to $9 million. It stays there for 2012, before spiking to $11.5 million in 2013, the final year of the contract.
With no salary cap in 2010 (assuming no extension to the CBA), there will be no consequence to cutting Bulger. So unless he’s willing to take a huge pay cut, it’s likely if not certain that he’ll be gone.
It makes sense. Since Bulger got his big-money deal, the Rams have added a new G.M. and a new head coach. It’s now time for them to get a new starting quarterback.
