Feb. 1, 2000 SportsLine wire reports

ST. LOUIS -- The Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams appear well-positioned for an encore, even with a tougher schedule and the glare of Monday Night Football to come and no Dick Vermeil to lead them.

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"We've done a great job of insulating the team," personnel director Charley Armey said. "In the future, we have three or four key guys we'll have to examine, but I think we can hold it together."

The celebration continued Tuesday for the team, which greeted callers with "Super Bowl Rams, may I help you?" and had players, coaches and other personnel fitted for rings. Vermeil's surprise retirement announcement Tuesday was a shock, softened by the knowledge that Mike Martz is ready to step in.

Vermeil noted that his lifelong friend, Bill Walsh, stepped down as 49ers coach and George Seifert produced a Super Bowl champion the next year.

"The program is in real good shape," Vermeil said. "Mike Martz is prepared to take it over."

On the horizon, there are few concerns.

Topping the short list is the status of cornerback Todd Lyght, among the league leaders with six interceptions and scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. Lyght is the Rams' senior player, a first-round pick in 1991 when the team was in Los Angeles, and it took time for him to warm to the Midwest. He tried to leave for Jacksonville a few years ago and the Rams matched the offer, but winning changes everything.

"My first decision is to stay with St. Louis and finish my career as a Ram," Lyght said before the Super Bowl. "But this is big business and you always have to consider the money factor."

Other Rams who are unrestricted free agents are center Mike Gruttadauria and offensive tackle Fred Miller, both starters. The top restricted free agent, and perhaps a higher priority, is cornerback Dexter McCleon.

The team also must decide what to do with quarterback Trent Green, their leader of the future before a knee injury in the third exhibition game. The Rams could trade Green, who finished the first year of a four-year, $16 million deal, and take a $3 million salary cap hit because of his signing bonus.

Or they could keep him another year just in case MVP Kurt Warner stumbles in his second year as starter.

"We'll enjoy this for a week, then dive into the realities," Green said Tuesday. "I'm not worried about it."