Dec 21, 2008; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams defensive back Ron Bartell (24) is tackled by San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Bryant Johnson (82) after intercepting a pass during the second half at the Edward Jones Dome. The 49ers defeated the Rams 17-16. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Scott Rovak-US PRESSWIRE

With free agency opening Tuesday, the Rams have already begun making roster cuts to clear cap space. Cornerback Ron Bartell was cut, as were defensive tackles Fred Robbins and Justin Bannan, center Jason Brown and defensive end James Hall. With the moves, the team freed up almost $19 million in cap space, which is a pretty nice number.

As far as the players go, I don’t think anyone is surprised by Brown or Bannan being gone. Brown was benched last season, and although Bannan wasn’t terrible, last year was his first with the team and he didn’t blow anyone away.

Hall has been playing good ball since he came to St. Louis, but he is 35 years old. He would have counted $3 million against the cap, so I guess it’s not a huge surprise. Word of Bartell’s possible release hit a few weeks ago after he missed the season with a neck fracture. Bartell has been cleared medically, so it will be interesting to see what happens with him. I really like Bartell, and I hope he can continue to play at a high level when he returns.

As far as Chris Long goes, he did not practice Friday and his status is still up in the air as well. Spags didn’t have much to say about Long after practice other than calling him day-to-day, so we’ll see. Like I said yesterday, If I had to put money on it I’d say he will play, but the fact that he couldn’t go today is certainly a concern. Darian Stewart still hasn’t been cleared for contact, and it’s starting to look like a long shot that he will play. Spags sounded more concerned about Stewart’s status than the others, but nothing definitive has come out as of yet.

The one piece of good news was that Justin Bannan was able to do more today, and the coaching staff was encouraged with his participation. There’s certainly a chance that he plays Sunday, but a lot will depend on how his body responds after going on Friday. Also, Donnie Jones was still hurting on Friday but apparently will punt Sunday unless something crazy happens.

In other news, Darian Stewart did not practice Wednesday while he tries to come back from a concussion. He did do some walkthrough stuff, but he hasn’t been cleared by doctors just yet. Spags sounded like he was hopeful that Stewart might be able to get out there over the next few days, but it will depend on what the doctors have to say. Mark LeVoir, Justin Bannan and Josh Hull were all out again, and it doesn’t look good for them at this point. They haven’t been ruled out for Sunday, so a lot will depend on the next few days.

Finally, Danario Alexander was a full participant today and is expected to be full-go Sunday. The final five games are supremely important for DX, so he badly needs to stay healthy and put on a good show. I know the Rams like him, but you can’t roster a guy who is only going to play half of a season. He has shown the ability to be a game-changer, and he needs to do it over these last few games.