Rams Chat With Jim Thomas - 2/18/14

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http://live.stltoday.com/Event/Rams_chat_with_Jim_Thomas_30?Page=0

Read entire article at the link

Some highlights -
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Good day to you Jim, thank you for the chats. with all the draft picks they have invested in wr and with Snead declaring they are comfortable going forward with the group they have. I still think after dropping down with a trade they still target Watkins in the 1st if he is still available. What say you Jim?

I wouldn't be shocked by that. And to some degree, when Snead talks about the existing roster, you have to take it with a grain of salt. Meaning, Les isn't going to rip the players on the current roster. After all, he's brought more than half of them to the roster.
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Lets say Sammy Watkins is a ram. Whats the Final wr depth chart look like. Who goes, who starts, slot etc?

I would say Watkins and Bailey or Givens starting on the outside, leaving Tavon Austin in the slot. Quick and Pettis off the bench. That's if the Rams keep six wideouts. If they don't keep 6 wideouts, playing time from last year would suggest Pettis isn't back.
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Any chance the Rams go after one of Jairus Byrd, T.J. Ward, Chris Clemons, Donte Whitner, Louis Delmas or Malcolm Jenkins? I know they had interest in Delmas last year and Jenkins Play for Gregg Williams so there's a connection there.

Yeah, the Rams went after Delmas pretty hard in free agency. But there are concerns about his knee, and I think that's why the Rams offered him only a 1-year contract. As for safety overall, my sense is that the Rams are more likely to fill that need in the draft and don't want to spend a ton of dough on that position in free agency.
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I believe that you previously have said you had strong indications that Saffold would not be back. Is that still the case? It could simplify the Rams offseason quite a bit if he were re-signed. Also, any indications of the Rams intentions with Chris Williams?

There's no doubt Saffold is a lynch-pin to the Rams' offensive line and to a large degree their entire offeseason. I'm still not optimistic that he'll be back, but one thing I do want to point out _ and I should have mentioned this earlier _ is the Rams are not going to let him walk out of Rams Park for good without putting up a fight to keep him. He's easily their top priority in terms of re-signing. Now if some team offers him elite guard type of pay, he's gone. If that doesn't happen, the Rams have a chance.
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Hi, Jim Would you weigh in a bit about the reserve offensive line folk? Not Smith and Willliams but Hooey and Washington, Person, too. Have you seen enough of them or heard enough to make you think there is any great potential there? Also, have you seen whether Barrett Jones has gained strength. I know you said he was active in the weight room, as per the request of the team.

The Rams liked Hooey enough that they signed him to the practice squad even though he was injured much of camp. He needs to get stronger and add a little weight. Ultimately he has a right tackle's frame, I think. For what it's worth, at the end of last spring, Washington was ahead of Rok Watkins on the depth chart at guard. Washington needs to get stronger and keep his weight in control. He finally got some playing time in the league finale.

I don't know if Washington has starter's potential, but a good offseason helps his cause. Person seems a little undersized to me for a tackle, but the Rams must see something they like because they hung on to Person through several roster moves (both on the o-line and the overall roster). Jones looked a little bigger and stronger even by the end of the season. He was always one of the first guys in the weight room in the morning during the regular season (he and Harkey). And he volunteered to workout with the practice squad players on Saturday. (Since they don't play in games, Rams practice squad players do conditioning work, etc. on Sat.)

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Any chance the Rams re-sign Dunbar? I know he played for Williams in New Orleans.

If the Rams do re-sign, and I've mentioned this before, they're not going to extend themselves financially. The Rams really aren't far along on re-signing any of their own free agents. But again, that starts to change at the Combine.
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I heard from a friend who's interning in Jeff City that the rumor is nobody in the State Legislature intends to do anything to keep the team in Saint Louis, and they're only focused on making the bare minimum amount of lip service to keep people someone satisfied. Hopefully it's just a rumor, any journalistic insight? And when will we finally know?

I don't sense any groundswell of support to keep the Rams in St. Louis, that's for sure.
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How valuable do you think their 2nd overall pick is for other teams at this point, so that the Rams can get some good value for it?

I think it will start to come into focus at the Combine. But I still think it comes down to this: If you're a QB-needy team, you've got to get ahead of Jacksonville at No. 3 overall if you want to make sure you get no worse than the second-best QB in the draft.
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I heard was Fisher was on Mike and Mike this morning and irrefutably put Bradford as the starting QB - does this impact how other teams view the number 2 pick; and did you catch that segment, was there anything else of note that came up?

I didn't hear the Mike & Mike segment, but heard about Fisher's comments. No, it doesn't impact how other teams view the No. 2 overall pick at all because NOTHING has changed in how the Rams view Bradford all offseason. I liken it to a dog chasing its tail _ over, and over, and over again. There was an erroneous report on CBSsports.com about the Rams not wanting to extend Bradford and possibly cutting Bradford. It was wrong. And the final, revised story on CBSsports was much different than the original, because the original story was wrong.

Nonetheless, the original story caused several national media outlets _ who were behind on the story _ to check in with the Rams to see what was the case. So Fisher was on Mike & Mike. Kevin Demoff talked to Mike Silver. Les Snead talked to Ed Werder. Here's the news flash: "As I've said, Sam's our starting quarterback." That's what Les Snead told me and a handful of reporters on Jan. 10. Repeating: Jan. 10! NOTHING HAS CHANGED. The Rams are all-in on Bradford.
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NOLA let go of a good chunk of their defense this offseason - all players who were under Willams during their SB run - any of those players of interest to the Rams now, or are they mostly washed up at this point?

In the case of Greer, he is coming off a pretty severe knee injury/surgery. I think Will Smith and Vilma are pretty much beyond being impact players. But I wonder if they have some value as support players.
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What makes you excited about the Rams and what makes you leery for next season?

Good things. 1.) Gregg Williams. 2.) The Rams seem to have found their offensive identity. 3.) Another draft class _ 2 first-rounders, four of top 75 picks. 4.) Robert Quinn. On the flip side: 1.) The NFC West. 2.) The NFC West. 3.) The NFC West. 4.) Wide receiver.
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Does fisher mean it when he says the rams will be younger next year? If so, can't see signing vet like Maclin. If wells and Dahl are cut, how much cap is freed up? Is the new nfl year the start of cuts?

Let's say seven of the Rams' current nine draft picks make the roster. (That total doesn't include any compensatory picks that are assigned at the owners' meetings in March.) Those rookies obviously are going to replace older players. So that's how that happens unless the team also replaces some younger players with older free agents, which overall seems unlikely. The new NFL year starts March 11, but you can start cutting players any time after the Super Bowl. Cap savings would be $4.5 million for Wells; $4 million for Dahl.
 

RamFan503

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I heard from a friend who's interning in Jeff City that the rumor is nobody in the State Legislature intends to do anything to keep the team in Saint Louis, and they're only focused on making the bare minimum amount of lip service to keep people someone satisfied. Hopefully it's just a rumor, any journalistic insight? And when will we finally know?

I don't sense any groundswell of support to keep the Rams in St. Louis, that's for sure.

A little disturbing.
 
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I believe that you previously have said you had strong indications that Saffold would not be back. Is that still the case? It could simplify the Rams offseason quite a bit if he were re-signed. Also, any indications of the Rams intentions with Chris Williams?

There's no doubt Saffold is a lynch-pin to the Rams' offensive line and to a large degree their entire offeseason. I'm still not optimistic that he'll be back, but one thing I do want to point out _ and I should have mentioned this earlier _ is the Rams are not going to let him walk out of Rams Park for good without putting up a fight to keep him. He's easily their top priority in terms of re-signing. Now if some team offers him elite guard type of pay, he's gone. If that doesn't happen, the Rams have a chance.

Interesting.
 

tonyl711

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I really doubt that an intern knows anything about negotiations going on. Stan has said that these negotiations will not be played out in the media, could it be that the powers that be in Missouri are going along with Stans wishes? these negotiations are just beginning im sure when things heat up we will be hearing more from both sides.
 

Boffo97

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I really doubt that an intern knows anything about negotiations going on. Stan has said that these negotiations will not be played out in the media, could it be that the powers that be in Missouri are going along with Stans wishes? these negotiations are just beginning im sure when things heat up we will be hearing more from both sides.
JT wasn't exactly jumping up to deny the notion though.
 

Boffo97

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why would he? he isn't getting anything from the Rams on it, kind of a stir the pot and see what boils to the top type of thing IMO.
Aren't we talking about St. Louis/Missouri's intentions here, and not the Rams?

If there's any truth to these governments not caring about the Rams, that changes a LOT. The dude asking the question is just some credibility-less anonymous dude (much like me). JT's responses is... interesting.
 

tonyl711

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Aren't we talking about St. Louis/Missouri's intentions here, and not the Rams?

If there's any truth to these governments not caring about the Rams, that changes a LOT. The dude asking the question is just some credibility-less anonymous dude (much like me). JT's responses is... interesting.
yes we are talking about Missouri/ St Louis intentions, but why would they try to make things public when they know Stan doesn't want it that way? the ball is in Stans court, making these negotiations public when he doesn't want that would endanger those negotiations IMO. they are in the first stages of negotiations, right now im not sure there is anything worthwhile for them to say, when things become clearer I would think we will start hearing about whats happening, till then probably not.
 

EastRam

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yes we are talking about Missouri/ St Louis intentions, but why would they try to make things public when they know Stan doesn't want it that way? the ball is in Stans court, making these negotiations public when he doesn't want that would endanger those negotiations IMO. they are in the first stages of negotiations, right now im not sure there is anything worthwhile for them to say, when things become clearer I would think we will start hearing about whats happening, till then probably not.

Speculation on my part. But I would bet everything I own that there's lots of talk behind the scenes.

Not necessarily how much money you wanna contribute to this issue but groundwork kinda stuff.

Posturing of positions. Their talking bank it.
 

Boffo97

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yes we are talking about Missouri/ St Louis intentions, but why would they try to make things public when they know Stan doesn't want it that way? the ball is in Stans court, making these negotiations public when he doesn't want that would endanger those negotiations IMO. they are in the first stages of negotiations, right now im not sure there is anything worthwhile for them to say, when things become clearer I would think we will start hearing about whats happening, till then probably not.
We'll see... but it would seem to me that the last impression they'd want out there is that they don't care if the Rams leave.
 

bluecoconuts

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I really doubt that an intern knows anything about negotiations going on. Stan has said that these negotiations will not be played out in the media, could it be that the powers that be in Missouri are going along with Stans wishes? these negotiations are just beginning im sure when things heat up we will be hearing more from both sides.

Depends on what the intern does. I have friends who are interns for congressmen in Washington and they know a lot of stuff and hear a lot of what is going on behind the scenes. Then there are ones who don't know a thing. All depends on who they work for and what they do. Essentially the comment could mean nothing or a lot, hard to say. From an outside perspective it certainly doesn't seem like there's a big rush, and there's been enough posturing to almost run them out to add enough chatter to make people worry.

In the end without more information its all just speculation. I'm not even sure if there's another "date" that needs to be met yet, that would give out more information.
 

mr.stlouis

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Rams making a push for Verner??? Oh heck yes...

That would eliminate CB as a pretty high need from the draft. If that's the Rams's only splash of FA I'd be happy (which includes losing Saffold.)
 

RamFan503

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Clinton's intern knew what was going on her dress. And... rim shot.

Most interns actually know a lot about how their "boss" spends his days, what issues are on his agenda, and with whom he's meeting in regards to issues - at least at the state/local level.

And FWIW - I believe the ball is in the CVC's and politicians' court. Stan won the arbitration so I believe the onus is on St Louis/MO to up the ante. I'm sure both sides are working on something but I doubt Stan is going to show his hand first ESPECIALLY if the city/county/state reps are truly not interested in being a real part of the solution.
 

jjab360

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Rams making a push for Verner??? Oh heck yes...

That would eliminate CB as a pretty high need from the draft. If that's the Rams's only splash of FA I'd be happy (which includes losing Saffold.)
Finnegan makes me a little wary of signing Tennessee CBs, but Verner was one of the best corners in the league last year. Williams went out of his way to mention him in his introductory press conference, wouldn't surprise me one bit if he was our primary FA target.
 

mr.stlouis

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Finnegan makes me a little wary of signing Tennessee CBs, but Verner was one of the best corners in the league last year. Williams went out of his way to mention him in his introductory press conference, wouldn't surprise me one bit if he was our primary FA target.

Agreed