Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Morning Ram-blings: Steven Jackson released

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The Atlanta Falcons officially parted ways Thursday night with former St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson, saving $3.75 million in the process.

Jackson spent two seasons in Atlanta after nine years in St. Louis. In going to the Falcons, Jackson had hoped to have a chance to get to the postseason for the first time since his rookie year in St. Louis with many believing Jackson as perhaps the final missing piece in Atlanta.

Unfortunately for Jackson, it didn't work out that way and the Falcons struggled through his two seasons there. He played in 27 games there with 1,250 yards on 347 carries and 12 touchdowns. In the process, he became the 19th player in league history to surpass 11,000 rushing yards.

What happens next for Jackson remains to be seen. He'll be 32 in July and gave strong consideration to retirement when he departed from the Rams after the 2012 season. So it stands to reason that he could decide to call it a career. But there's no real rush and he could at least take a look around to see if a contender might give him a chance to pursue a championship as a role player.

When Jackson left St. Louis, there was talk about one day returning to St. Louis to do the pomp and circumstance of retiring a Ram. Whether the time for that is now or later, here's one vote for that to happen when the time comes.

I.C.Y.M.I.

A roundup of Thursday's Rams stories appearing on ESPN.com. ... The Ram-blings opened the day with a unique look at how Madden rates players. ... We then examined why it's best for the Rams and Kenny Britt for him to stay in St. Louis. ... Thursday's free-agent preview looked at the offensive tackle situation. ... The Rams released defensive tackle Kendall Langford. ... It was a move that made sense but upped the urgency for the Rams to find depth at the position. ... Finally, we got to know new quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke and how his experience with many types of quarterbacks comes at a good time for the Rams.

Elsewhere: 

One potential placeholder at offensive tackle for the Rams, retired from the Tennessee Titans on Thursday.

Not Rams-related but an interesting first-person read from Brandon Bostick on TheMMQB.com about how his life changed after the onside kick miss.

At 101sports.com, Leigh Steinberg says he doesn't believe NFL teams should be allowed to move.

At stltoday.com, Joe Strauss answers 10 questions, including a few on the Rams.

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