By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer
Holt Photo Gallery

The Rams said goodbye to a franchise icon for the second time this week when they officially released wide receiver Torry Holt on Friday after 10 seasons with the team.

“The Rams will forever be grateful for the way Torry Holt represented the Rams on the field and in the community,” Owner/Chairman Chip Rosenbloom said. “He is an All-Pro in every sense of the word. Over the past 10 seasons Torry has proven himself to be one of the finest wide receivers in league history. This is a difficult decision because Torry has meant so much to the organization. In my mind and for all Rams fans, Torry will always be a Ram and we wish him and his family nothing but the best as they move forward.”
 
Speculation about Holt’s future began during the 2008 season and it became clear that he was not in the team’s plans earlier in the offseason as it continues to re-shape the roster around young, ascending players. The Rams released tackle Orlando Pace on Tuesday.

Holt’s release saves the Rams a significant amount of money under the salary cap for 2009. This year was the final year of Holt’s contract and Holt was due to count $10.2 million against the cap. His release saves the Rams about $8 million in salary cap space.

Holt is on vacation and was unavailable for immediate comment.

A decision on Holt had to be made as the Rams would have owed him a $1.25 million roster bonus on March 17. After shopping him in trade to no avail, the team settled on cutting Holt before the bonus was due. In conjunction with Pace’s release, the Rams have saved more than $14 million with the two moves.

“We were trying to do what is best for the Rams and at this point we thought it had gone far enough so let’s do it now and give Torry an opportunity to look around,” general manager Billy Devaney said.

The move is more than a matter of economics, though, as the moves the team has made this offseason represent a shift toward younger players. Holt’s number declined to their lowest point since his rookie season in 2008 when he finished with 64 catches for 796 yards and three touchdowns.

Before that, though, Holt has proved himself as one of the league’s most productive and classiest players.

“Just like Orlando, for the Rams you hate to see the Torry Holt era come to an end with just what a fantastic player and everything else he brought to the organization,” Devaney said. “In Rams history, this is a sad day.”

In this decade, no receiver has put up better numbers than Holt. Since 2000, Holt has posted 817 receptions for 11,872 yards, the best totals of any wide out in the league in that time period.

In 158 career games, Holt has averaged 80.1 yards per game, the most per contest of any player in NFL history. Along the way, Holt has caught a pass in 153 consecutive games and ranks 11th in league history in receptions (869) and 14th in yards (12,660).

The Rams originally selected Holt with the sixth overall selection in the 1999 NFL Draft. Holt made an immediate impact as a rookie and over the first few years of his career, teamed with Isaac Bruce to form one of the most dominant receiving duos in league history.

The release of Holt and Pace leaves defensive end Leonard Little as the last remaining member of the 1999 Super Bowl championship squad.

Perhaps more important, though, is that Holt’s release combined with Drew Bennett’s departure leaves the Rams with the group known as the “Teen Squad” as the only receivers under contract. That trio consists of Donnie Avery, Keenan Burton and Derek Stanley (all three of whom wear a number in the teens).

In other words, there isn’t much depth and even less experience at that position heading into 2009. Devaney is confident in those young players but readily acknowledges the need to add to the position.

“(Our confidence) is extremely high but it’s got to be,” Devaney said. “Those kids will be much improved this year but we are not kidding anybody, it’s still an area that we have to add some depth to and add some players too. Whether that’s players that are out there right now or whether it’s through the draft, we recognize we still have to bring some guys in at that position.”

The pickings in the free agent market at receiver are relatively slim now that the first wave of free agency is over. Of course, it wasn’t exactly a spot teeming with talent to begin with.

Still, there are some options for veteran wideouts on the market that could be of interest to the Rams. New Orleans restricted free agent Lance Moore could be of interest though the Rams would have to give up their second-round pick to land him.

Other names on the market that might draw the Rams’ attention include Amani Toomer, Bobby Engram, Ronald Curry and Reggie Williams.

Those players all have experience in the league and Toomer has a relationship with Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo from their time together in New York. But Devaney says the Rams won’t just sign a veteran receiver for the sake of signing a veteran receiver.

“We are just going to focus on finding a good player,” Devaney said. “If it’s a guy with experience, that’s a bonus but we are not going to go out and sign somebody that we don’t think can play and say ‘Well, he’s an experienced guy’ if at the end of the day he doesn’t help us much. The ideal would be a good player that’s played a couple of years. If that guy is out there or materializes, yeah we would have an interest. If not, we will go through the draft again.”

The draft class at receiver is widely regarded as one of the deeper positions this year. At the top of the draft, the Rams, like many other teams are known to be found of Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree and Missouri’s Jeremy Maclin.

Like with Pace’s release, Devaney believes the Rams can still be flexible in whom they select with the No. 2 overall selection though he also concedes the team will take a long look at those top wide outs before it makes a decision on that selection.

“Absolutely (we can be flexible),” Devaney said. “Will this be a consideration? Sure. There’s a really good receiver in the draft this year that is worthy of consideration for that pick. It’s a position we are looking to add to so sure I think that position is in play as well as a couple of others.”