St. Louis Rams Sign OL Garrett Reynolds

The St. Louis Rams finally made some sort of move to address their offensive line, which has been stripped bare by free agency and cap-conserving cuts, signing veteran offensive lineman Garrett Reynolds to a two-year contract worth $2.2 million. The 27-year-old Reynolds will become the seventh lineman who the Rams officially have in the fold for the 2015 season.

On a team that does not have many experienced depth options at the moment, Reynolds is a nice, versatile player to have around. After playing primarily right tackle during his college career at North Carolina, Reynolds played exclusively guard for the Atlanta Falcons from 2009 to 2013, starting in 23 games while appearing in 42 overall. After being released by the Falcons in February of last year, Reynolds signed with the Detroit Lions as training camp opened. He went on to start four games for them at right tackle while appearing in two more on a rotational basis.

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Reynolds fits the profile of a typical long and lean Jeff Fisher offensive tackle, as he’s listed at 6-foot-7 but at times has been listed as tall as 6-foot-8, and he most recently weighed in at a svelte 310 pounds. In an ideal scenario, Reynolds probably serves as an experienced swing backup for starting tackles Greg Robinson and Joe Barksdale (who is still on the free agent market at the moment). The Rams didn’t have that type of player last year, as Robinson and Rodger Saffold, the team’s starting guards, were the primary backup tackles, with inexperienced Mike Person serving as the emergency option. (In addition, the Rams obviously made a misstep in allowing practice squad tackle Mike Remmers to escape to the Carolina Panthers midway through the season; Remmers went on to start the last five games of the regular season plus two playoff contests for Carolina.)

The reality is that Reynolds may also end up competing for the Rams’ other vacant guard position if no more established free agent options are brought into the fold. The team is expected to address the guard position in the middle rounds of the draft, but with an unproven rookie experiencing the grind of the NFL for the first time, guys like Reynolds and long-term project Brandon Washington will likely end up pushing for a starting spot.

Next: Ranking the Top 15 Running Backs in the 2015 NFL Draft

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