On Pace’s Release

-         By now, you’ve probably heard the Rams released left tackle Orlando Pace on Tuesday afternoon, leaving behind just two members of the 1999 Super Bowl championship team in Torry Holt and Leonard Little.

-         At 33, Pace is closer to the end than the beginning but this is a good opportunity to appreciate Pace for all he has done. Such is life in the NFL as players come and go, dominate and depreciate. It’s a part of the game and business decisions have to be made.

-         The Rams are retooling their roster and to do that, they needed to clear salary cap space so they’d have some room to operate and get younger, bigger and more physical. In this case, Pace was just too expensive to keep around.

-         Although Pace has been repeatedly bit by the injury bug in recent seasons, there’s no denying his body of work makes him one of the great Rams and great tackles of all time.

-         Here’s to wishing Pace the best of luck wherever he lands and to what could be a Hall of Fame career.

-         As for how this affects the Rams, well it really makes tackle a serious need in the upcoming NFL Draft. As it stands, there is just one true tackle on the roster in Alex Barron and he is in the final year of his contract.

-         The Rams would like to bring back utility lineman Adam Goldberg also but the interest and scrutiny on Virginia’s Eugene Monroe and Baylor’s Jason Smith will be turned up in the coming weeks as there’s no doubt the Rams need to find a tackle or two or maybe even three before all is said and done.

-         For those e-mailing, it’s fair to assume that the Rams couldn’t get much in terms of compensation for Pace and that’s why he was outright released and not traded. The team exhausted all avenues to a deal before making this move.

-         That’s all for now but we’ll have more if it comes…