PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : RAMS : Maddox’s Contract Is Restructured

The Rams have restructured backup quarterback Tommy Maddox’s contract, reducing his salary from the $875,000 he was earning with the Denver Broncos to a one-year deal in excess of $500,000.

Maddox, however, will become a restricted free agent at the end of the contract if the Rams don’t re-sign him.

The Rams see Maddox, a third-year pro and a former UCLA standout, as a valuable player after this season. They will be free to match any offer a team makes for him, and will receive draft picks as compensation should he sign elsewhere.

Young quarterbacks such as Maddox, 23, are expected to be in demand because of expansion franchises in Charlotte, N.C., and Jacksonville, Fla.

Maddox, playing behind Chris Miller and Chris Chandler, has been inactive for the first three games.

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Coach Chuck Knox said the Rams are in the market for an offensive lineman and wide receiver because of injuries in Sunday’s loss to the 49ers. Offensive tackle Darryl Ashmore suffered a sprained right knee ligament, and wide receiver Richard Buchanan a pulled right hamstring. Each is expected to be sidelined for two or three weeks.

With the injury to Ashmore, the Rams are expected to put offensive guard Keith Loneker, who suffered a fallen left arch against Atlanta two weeks ago, on the injured-reserve list.

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The Baltimore Sun reported that Rams executive vice president John Shaw told Maryland Gov. William Donald Schaefer that the team probably will decide whether to move in the next four to six weeks.

Schaefer met with Shaw and a pair of team attorneys in Beverly Hills on Sunday night, said Mark Wasserman, secretary of the Maryland Department of Economic and Employment Development, who also was there.

“It was a good, useful exchange. There’s no substitute to meeting their decision-makers face to face,” Wasserman said.