Rams released this guy. Lead the team in tackles in 2008.(88 solo) 27 years old. I'm just saying.
Rams released this guy. Lead the team in tackles in 2008.(88 solo) 27 years old. I'm just saying.
If he lead the team in tackles, why did they release him? Did he not get any sacks?
From the St, Louis Dispatch:
Linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa bid a gracious adieu to the Rams after being released Friday.
"I really like the direction they're going," he said. "Because the team wasn't winning, you knew this year was going to be different, and a lot of faces would be different. I didn't really honestly think it would involve me. But the change is here, it's come, and I think it's a good change. If something isn't working, you've got to figure things out."
Tinoisamoa, 27, led the Rams in tackles in four of his six seasons but didn't fit the mold of coach Steve Spagnuolo, who prefers bigger linebackers. Neither Spagnuolo nor general manager Billy Devaney was available for comment Friday, though Spagnuolo said in a statement, "This was a difficult decision based on a lot of factors. I have a great deal of respect for Pisa and wish him all the best."
Chief among those factors was size. Tinoisamoa was listed at 240 pounds but played at 220 last year. When the Rams announced that Will Witherspoon would move to the weak side and Chris Draft to the middle, the only spot remaining was on the strong side, which requires an even beefier guy who frequently mucks with tight ends. The addition of James Laurinaitis in the second round of the draft further complicated Tinoisamoa's situation.
"They thought I was too good to be a backup," Tinoisamoa said. "I'm getting paid too much to be a backup. They had brought that up earlier in the week, so (being released) wasn't a total surprise."
Tinoisamoa's release frees up about $2.25 million in cap space but leaves the linebacking corps thin. Draft probably will fill the hole on the strong side, leaving Quinton Culberson as the only experienced reserve. Culberson started the first three games of 2008 on the strong side but was replaced by Draft and finished the season with 54 tackles.
The rest of the group lacks seasoning. David Vobora, Mr. Irrelevant of the 2008 draft, had nine tackles last year. Chris Chamberlain, another seventh-rounder, had two tackles. Larry Grant contributed five tackles on special teams. Tinoisamoa said he spent last weekend's minicamp rotating as a backup with the group.
"I thought I did decent. It was a new position, but I didn't think it was anything that was going to be unrealistic or unattainable," he said. "But when you see a rotation, you know there was something that just wasn't solidified yet, and that made me uneasy. I thought that I had a good chance of making this team, so the timing kind of hit me out of the blue."
A second-round pick out of Hawaii in 2003, Tinoisamoa became the first rookie to lead the team in tackles, with 121. He led the team in tackles the following two seasons and was named a team captain in 2004.
Tinoisamoa signed a $24.7 million contract extension after five games of 2006 that locked him up through 2011. About that time, though, he suffered a series of injuries to a hand, elbow, shoulder, ankle and knee that forced him to miss 12 games in 2006 and 2007. He started every game last year, though, and again led the team in tackles, with 135.
"It was a great moment in my life, coming into a team and making the playoffs my first two seasons," he said. "The past couple years haven't been the best, but I've always tried to get back to that level of success as a team. My attitude never changed, and I always strove to be the best."
Last edited by imcorrect; 05-09-2009 at 11:09 PM. Reason: Deleted ads
Doesn't fit our new scheme. We won't be signing him.
At 220lbs, he doesn't fit any scheme as a LB.
Tinoisamoa is 240 lbs.
Pisa Tinoisamoa - St. Louis Rams - NFL - Yahoo! Sports
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