The Rams made the first of what figures to be many roster-shaping moves, releasing veteran strong safety Corey Chavous on Friday. The move saves the Rams $1.2 million in salary cap space.
Chavous, 33, was a three-year starter for St. Louis and a defensive team captain in 2008. He was part of Scott Linehan's first free agency class, joining the team from Minnesota before the 2006 campaign.
Early in the 2008 season, then-defensive coordinator Jim Haslett wanted to replace Chavous in the starting lineup but was rebuffed by Linehan. Once Haslett took over as interim head coach, he stuck with Chavous for nine more games before starting Todd Johnson in his place for the final three contests.
Chavous finished with 85 tackles and three pass breakups and had a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in '08. Even before Steve Spagnuolo was hired as the Rams' new head coach, Chavous knew he didn't fit in the team's plans for 2009 and beyond.
Earlier this week, Chavous' agent requested that Chavous be released as soon as possible, to give him more time to look for another job before the start of free agency Feb. 27.
When it became clear to us that we were going to move in a different direction, we thought out of respect for Corey, and to give him the best chance to explore all his options, that this was the best time to make this move," general manager Billy Devaney said. "Corey Chavous epitomizes everything that's good about the NFL. He's classy, smart, hard-working. He gave it his all. The team always came first."


