St. Louis Rams Bring Back Center Tim Barnes
The St. Louis Rams fortified their lacking offensive line depth a bit more on Monday afternoon, signing center Tim Barnes to a one-year deal that could be worth as much as $1 million. The move was first reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch‘s Jim Thomas.
Barnes, a University of Missouri alum, joined the Rams as a practice squad player in 2011 and has spent the past three seasons on the team’s active roster as the backup center. He started the final four games of the season at center in 2013 after Scott Wells went down with a season-ending injury.
With Wells having been released this offseason, it appears that Barnes will be part of some sort of competition for the starting center job along with Barrett Jones and Demetrius Rhaney, two centers that the Rams have drafted during the past two drafts.
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Even with as poor as the Rams’ offensive line depth looks at the moment, Barnes is likely going to have to compete for a spot come training camp. Jones appears to have the edge for the starting center spot, and the Rams are at least somewhat intrigued by Rhaney. That’s not even considering the possibility that the Rams will draft a center this May. As a rather athletically-limited 6-foot-3, 300-pounder, it’s not very realistic to expect Barnes to make any contributions at guard, though it’s theoretically possible that the Rams could plug Barnes in at center and move Jones back outside, as he started 25 games during his college career at right guard.
With Barnes joining Jones, Rhaney, left tackle Greg Robinson, left guard Rodger Saffold, backup guard Brandon Washington, 2014 practice squad members Steven Baker and Travis Bond, and offseason free agent addition Garrett Reynolds on the roster, the Rams now have nine offensive linemen in the fold for the 2015 season. Though they almost have enough depth to conduct a standard practice now, it’s clear that the Rams still have some work to do up front. Along with the competition at the center position, the Rams must find a starting-caliber guard and a right tackle. That spot could be filled if they decide to bring back 2014 starter Joe Barksdale, who is currently an unrestricted free agent.
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