And if I recall both Long and Laurinaitis had contracts that would have touched the Rams with big cap hits and they weren't exactly in the position to take a cap hit then go out and pay another player adding more to the cap. They waited until it was feasible.
Though I would not have redone Laurinaitis's deal to begin with, he just wasn't worth the draft spot or the money at any point in his career with the Rams. He didn't flat out suck like a lot of posters would claim but he was just an average player and not worth anything like what he got after his rookie deal was extended.
