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No guarantees Rams are done adding quarterbacks
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...-guarantees-rams-are-done-adding-quarterbacks
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Poor Nick Foles. Surrounded by the pomp and circumstance of a glorified pep rally Friday afternoon at Rams Park, Foles was supposed to be the center of attention as the new, albeit possibly temporary, face of the St. Louis Rams franchise.
But Foles' first chance to meet with the St. Louis media went largely under the radar as coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead attempted to offer explanations of how the seismic shift in their quarterback room came about.
After Fisher surprised the staff in attendance by trotting out about to sign defensive tackle Nick Fairley, he introduced Foles before turning it over to Snead. For those who might not remember, it was at February's NFL scouting combine and in the week before it in which Snead and Fisher had repeatedly and emphatically expressed their confidence in Sam Bradford as the quarterback.
Although the Rams had been rumored to have interest in Foles as early as the Senior Bowl in January, it was at the combine where plans for Bradford embarked down a path that would lead to Philadelphia.
In Indianapolis, a rumor popped up that Bradford was being shopped around. At the time, the spin was that Bradford's camp was being given an opportunity to shop around to get a better gauge on what his value might be for a pay cut. Because Bradford was due to count $16.58 million against the cap in 2015, the Rams had been very clear that they wanted that number reduced and the theory went that getting a chance to shop Bradford might yield a middle ground.
Although it's unclear exactly how much of a pay cut the Rams wanted Bradford to take, there have been strong indications that the numbers came in below what he might have been able to fetch on the free-agent market.
Nick Foles
Nick Foles (center), flanked by head coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead, said he started hearing rumors about the Rams' interest in him at the Super Bowl.
Back on the Lucas Oil Stadium podium, speaking to reporters, Snead was taken aback by a question about Bradford's availability and made the comment that "deleting" Bradford wasn't the best move for the team. Fisher followed two days later by declaring that the reports about Bradford's availability were "inaccurate" and had previously noted that Bradford was involved in the hiring of Frank Cignetti as offensive coordinator and Chris Weinke as quarterbacks coach.
According to Snead, soon after his turn on the dais he began receiving calls about Bradford, gauging the Rams interest in trading him.
"We went to the combine, we had never heard anything about a trade, nobody had mentioned wanting to trade for Sam Bradford," Snead said. "Deleting him wasn’t going to be the solution. Obviously when news like that breaks, guess what, some other teams start babbling. I think the first team approached me at the combine at some point and said, ‘Hey, when you get off the elevator, can we chat?"
As Snead tells it, the Rams started getting interest only after the "news broke" that the Rams were interested in trading Bradford. But that "breaking news" wasn't made up; it had to have come from somewhere, right? Bradford's camp was caught off guard by the rumors meaning it wasn't that side leaking the information.
"I was at the podium," Snead said. "I forget who asked the question. I’m not sure where he got it from. You’ll have to figure out who asked. It’s been squirrelly."
In the meantime, no progress was made on reducing Bradford's salary. The longer that stalemate lasted, the more the Rams began looking at their options.
"It was an issue, and it was an issue that was addressed for quite some time," Fisher said. "And it was not an issue with respect to the transaction as far as they were concerned."
Asked if Bradford would still be in St. Louis had he agreed to a pay cut, Fisher responded, "probably not." Fisher spoke to Bradford on Tuesday morning and informed him that they were discussing trades and which teams they were discussing them with.
For his part, Bradford told the Philadelphia media that he knew of a possible move to the Eagles about three or four weeks ago. Foles told 101 ESPN radio in St. Louis that he had started hearing rumors of going to St. Louis around the Super Bowl.
Fisher said two hours after his conversation with Bradford, the deal with Philadelphia was consummated. It was a deal that was probably in the works much longer than the Rams let on, but they insisted Friday that acquiring Foles was the key to it all.
"When we said deleting Sam wasn’t the answer, that was true," Snead said. "When Coach Fish said that was his QB, that was true because at that moment there was no trade and there was definitely nobody like Nick coming in the building."
Fisher has already declared Foles the starter and offered a strong recommendation on Case Keenum, whom the team reacquired from Houston for a seventh-round pick soon after the Bradford trade. Foles and Keenum join Austin Davis (who has been tendered but not signed) as the three quarterbacks on the current roster, though none of the three are under contract beyond this season.
When asked about his comfort level with the quarterback position as a whole and whether the Rams had designs on adding another in the draft, Fisher gave a vote of confidence to the current group while ignoring the draft piece of the query.
"It’s a different room right now," Fisher said. "It’s a fresh start."
As we dive further into the silly season, deception and misdirection are part of the deal and it's clear there was plenty of it that went on before the swap. It's a deal that makes plenty of sense for the Rams on multiple levels.
But it should also serve as a reminder that any statements made about the team's comfort level in its quarterbacks, or just about anything else, are only as true as the amount of salt you're willing to ingest it with.
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...-guarantees-rams-are-done-adding-quarterbacks
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Poor Nick Foles. Surrounded by the pomp and circumstance of a glorified pep rally Friday afternoon at Rams Park, Foles was supposed to be the center of attention as the new, albeit possibly temporary, face of the St. Louis Rams franchise.
But Foles' first chance to meet with the St. Louis media went largely under the radar as coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead attempted to offer explanations of how the seismic shift in their quarterback room came about.
After Fisher surprised the staff in attendance by trotting out about to sign defensive tackle Nick Fairley, he introduced Foles before turning it over to Snead. For those who might not remember, it was at February's NFL scouting combine and in the week before it in which Snead and Fisher had repeatedly and emphatically expressed their confidence in Sam Bradford as the quarterback.
Although the Rams had been rumored to have interest in Foles as early as the Senior Bowl in January, it was at the combine where plans for Bradford embarked down a path that would lead to Philadelphia.
In Indianapolis, a rumor popped up that Bradford was being shopped around. At the time, the spin was that Bradford's camp was being given an opportunity to shop around to get a better gauge on what his value might be for a pay cut. Because Bradford was due to count $16.58 million against the cap in 2015, the Rams had been very clear that they wanted that number reduced and the theory went that getting a chance to shop Bradford might yield a middle ground.
Although it's unclear exactly how much of a pay cut the Rams wanted Bradford to take, there have been strong indications that the numbers came in below what he might have been able to fetch on the free-agent market.
Nick Foles
Nick Foles (center), flanked by head coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead, said he started hearing rumors about the Rams' interest in him at the Super Bowl.
Back on the Lucas Oil Stadium podium, speaking to reporters, Snead was taken aback by a question about Bradford's availability and made the comment that "deleting" Bradford wasn't the best move for the team. Fisher followed two days later by declaring that the reports about Bradford's availability were "inaccurate" and had previously noted that Bradford was involved in the hiring of Frank Cignetti as offensive coordinator and Chris Weinke as quarterbacks coach.
According to Snead, soon after his turn on the dais he began receiving calls about Bradford, gauging the Rams interest in trading him.
"We went to the combine, we had never heard anything about a trade, nobody had mentioned wanting to trade for Sam Bradford," Snead said. "Deleting him wasn’t going to be the solution. Obviously when news like that breaks, guess what, some other teams start babbling. I think the first team approached me at the combine at some point and said, ‘Hey, when you get off the elevator, can we chat?"
As Snead tells it, the Rams started getting interest only after the "news broke" that the Rams were interested in trading Bradford. But that "breaking news" wasn't made up; it had to have come from somewhere, right? Bradford's camp was caught off guard by the rumors meaning it wasn't that side leaking the information.
"I was at the podium," Snead said. "I forget who asked the question. I’m not sure where he got it from. You’ll have to figure out who asked. It’s been squirrelly."
In the meantime, no progress was made on reducing Bradford's salary. The longer that stalemate lasted, the more the Rams began looking at their options.
"It was an issue, and it was an issue that was addressed for quite some time," Fisher said. "And it was not an issue with respect to the transaction as far as they were concerned."
Asked if Bradford would still be in St. Louis had he agreed to a pay cut, Fisher responded, "probably not." Fisher spoke to Bradford on Tuesday morning and informed him that they were discussing trades and which teams they were discussing them with.
For his part, Bradford told the Philadelphia media that he knew of a possible move to the Eagles about three or four weeks ago. Foles told 101 ESPN radio in St. Louis that he had started hearing rumors of going to St. Louis around the Super Bowl.
Fisher said two hours after his conversation with Bradford, the deal with Philadelphia was consummated. It was a deal that was probably in the works much longer than the Rams let on, but they insisted Friday that acquiring Foles was the key to it all.
"When we said deleting Sam wasn’t the answer, that was true," Snead said. "When Coach Fish said that was his QB, that was true because at that moment there was no trade and there was definitely nobody like Nick coming in the building."
Fisher has already declared Foles the starter and offered a strong recommendation on Case Keenum, whom the team reacquired from Houston for a seventh-round pick soon after the Bradford trade. Foles and Keenum join Austin Davis (who has been tendered but not signed) as the three quarterbacks on the current roster, though none of the three are under contract beyond this season.
When asked about his comfort level with the quarterback position as a whole and whether the Rams had designs on adding another in the draft, Fisher gave a vote of confidence to the current group while ignoring the draft piece of the query.
"It’s a different room right now," Fisher said. "It’s a fresh start."
As we dive further into the silly season, deception and misdirection are part of the deal and it's clear there was plenty of it that went on before the swap. It's a deal that makes plenty of sense for the Rams on multiple levels.
But it should also serve as a reminder that any statements made about the team's comfort level in its quarterbacks, or just about anything else, are only as true as the amount of salt you're willing to ingest it with.
