Flight of fancy

Rams opt not to take flier on Carter after change of plans

The marriage of Cris Carter and the St. Louis Rams seemed an odd one from the start. How would Carter, who'd had his share of sideline fits in Minnesota when he wasn't the getting the ball enough, ever fit in with the selfless Ram offense?

It looks like we'll never have a chance to find out.

Peeved by Carter's request to take a later flight from Cleveland into St. Louis on Wednesday night -- a request that would have inconvenienced several Ram players and spouses, including Kurt Warner, and forced them to eat a very, very late dinner if they ate at all -- Rams head coach Mike Martz had an aide cancel Carter's visit. Not for the week. Probably for good.

"We're just canceling it and we might revisit it after the league meetings," Martz said Wednesday afternoon at 5:15 p.m. EST, a little more than an hour after Carter made his request to a Rams administrative assistant. "We'll see after the league meetings [March 17-22] if there's still an opportunity to do something."

Marshall Faulk, for one, had prior problems with Cris Carter after an incident at the Pro Bowl 13 months ago when he felt Carter didn't block for him. Faulk let him know about it, loudly.

There is no other way to put this development other than it's a stunning reversal of fortune. There probably now is no way Carter will sign with the Rams. The durable 36-year-old veteran likely will chose Cleveland -- with a heavy push from personnel czar Dwight Clark -- or Miami, though one Miami source said late Wednesday afternoon he felt the Dolphins were being used for leverage, not as a serious option for Carter. "I'm sure he's going to the Rams," the Miami source said. "We never felt like he was serious about us."

With that statement, the Browns seem a clear favorite to snare the NFL's second-leading receiver of all time. There seems little chance he'll bypass Cleveland's offer while the Rams finish stewing for the next two weeks. By that time, they'll likely have a third wideout under contract.

But what a weird turn of events. Martz estimates Carter called him "probably about a dozen times" since the end of the season, urging the Rams to sign him. Last weekend at the NFL Scouting Combine, Martz told Sports Illustrated: "He told me, 'Coach, I've made $18 million in the last three years. This isn't about the money. I want to win a title.'" And Carter told SI: "I've got the right ego to fit in. What difference does it make if I catch 50 balls or 90? I want, just once, to be on the last team standing."

Martz talked Sunday at the Indianapolis combine like the meeting this week in St. Louis was a formality to Carter joining the Rams.

The Rams and Carter, sources said, had verbally agreed to a contract that would have paid him third-receiver money, in the vicinity of $1.5 million a year, on the average, for a two- or three-year deal. But Martz wouldn't agree to the deal until Carter came into St. Louis and the coach's kitchen cabinet of respected offensive advisers -- Warner, running back Marshall Faulk and wideout Isaac Bruce -- gave Martz the thumbs-up on Carter. Faulk, for one, had prior problems with Carter after an incident at the Pro Bowl 13 months ago when he felt Carter didn't block for him. Faulk let him know about it, loudly.

Although Martz wouldn't discuss anything else about Carter's non-visit, it seems clear that the Rams viewed his delay-of-game Wednesday as a selfish move. If the Rams were the slam-dunk choice, and if he wanted to win a Super Bowl so badly, as he intimated to Martz on several occasions, why spend more time in Cleveland as opposed to hustling to St. Louis? The Browns are building. The Rams are built.

Carter would have been a perfect fit for the Rams, a guy who wasn't afraid of taking the big hit over the middle, a guy with the best hands of his era, a durable guy who probably had two effective years left.

The Rams will now turn to Tampa Bay free-agent wideout Jacquez Green, who arrives for a visit Friday. Someone should tell Green he'd better not be late.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.

 

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