Bell Agrees to Terms
Monday, March 3, 2008
By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer
A snow storm moving into the St. Louis area might have been
enough to keep Jacob Bell in St. Louis for a little while. But that won’t go
nearly as far as the six-year contract he agreed to with the team on Monday
evening.
The Rams and Bell agreed to terms after a getting-to-know-you
session that lasted most of Monday afternoon, according to team sources. The
athletic guard comes to St. Louis from Tennessee, where he earned a reputation
as one of the league’s fastest-rising young players on the interior of the
offensive line.
Bell immediately fills a void on the offensive line and should
help form one of the most athletic left sides in the game next to tackle Orlando
Pace. At 6’4, 295 pounds, Bell isn’t the mauler type, but that doesn’t mean he
can’t hold his own as a run blocker in addition to his nimble feet in pass
protection.
The Titans drafted Bell in the fifth round of the 2004 NFL Draft
and Bell has been an ascending player since. He has been a starter for
three of his four seasons in the league In that time he has played in 55 games
with 46 starts.
The left guard position has been ravaged by injury in recent
seasons as starter Mark Setterstrom was lost to a season ending knee injury.
Bell has started 43 games at left guard but also has experience at tackle where
he has started a trio of games on the right side.
According to one team source, Bell was the highest rated
interior lineman on the team’s free agent list heading into the offseason.
Terms of the contract were not immediately available. Bell is
expected to be introduced as a Ram officially on Tuesday in a 10 a.m. news
briefing at the Russell Training Center.