In a move that comes as no surprise yet nevertheless feels surprising (if that makes any sense and it probably doesn’t), Howard Balzer reports via Twitter that Rams quarterback Marc Bulger has cleaned out his locker.

Bulger, a former West Virginia quarterback who attended the same high school as Dan Marino, entered the league in 2000 as a sixth-round pick of the Saints. He ultimately landed with the Rams, where he rose to prominence as the successor to Kurt Warner.

But once Bulger cashed in with a big contract, his passer rating plunged from the 90s to the 70s. Three seasons later, the Rams simply can’t justify paying Bulger $8.5 million in 2010, given that neither G.M. Billy Devaney nor coach Steve Spagnuolo had any role in acquiring Bulger or financially rewarding him.

So if Bulger is released before March 5, he’ll hit the free-agent market before the market officially opens, giving agent Tom Condon plenty of time to find a new home for him.

How about a reunion with former Rams coach Mike Martz in Chicago? As Martz learned in 1999, the guy at the top of the depth chart in August might not be the guy who’s holding the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season. So if Jay Cutler takes a helmet to the knee in the preseason, the Bears will need someone other than whoever it is that backs up Cutler.

And that should be good for about 20 e-mails telling us who it is, and one or two identifying the number Ike Hilliard wore in Tampa. (Only founding members of PFT Planet will get that one.)