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Rams notes: Snead gives thumbs-up to Kroenke
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_6d403676-1a2d-5cfa-abf8-c794a9c8de5d.html
INDIANAPOLIS • Stan Kroenke might be public enemy No. 1 among Rams fans. But from where general manager Les Snead sits, he has no problems with the team’s owner.
“I give him unbelievable thumbs up,” Snead said Wednesday. “He’s competitive ... the guy wants to win. Even in St. Louis where you’re a lower-revenue team, never once has there been a problem with not being able stay in and compete (financially).
“And hey, the guy knows sports. He’s got a lot of sports teams. There’s a rational patience to him, where you can tell him your process and he’ll let you evolve and see if it works.”
Snead said he hasn’t given much thought to the possibility of Kroenke moving the team to Los Angeles after the 2015 season. That’s particularly true this time of year with free agency and the draft on the horizon.
“All we can do now is go through the next phase,” Snead said. “Combine, free agency, top 30 (visits), pro days, OTAs. All those things to get ready for ’15.”
THE OTHER GUYS
Even with all the attention paid to Sam Bradford and the team’s efforts to reduce his contract, 2015 backups Shaun Hill and Austin Davis remain in the picture.
The agent for Hill, St. Louisan Bob Lattinville, is scheduled to meet with the Rams to talk about a contract.
Hill is scheduled for unrestricted free agency.
Davis, meanwhile, is scheduled for restricted free agency. The Rams are expected to make a one-year tender offer on Davis, a move that at the least would give them matching rights on any outside offers.
There are different levels of tender offers, which determine what draft pick compensation — if any — the Rams would get if they decided not to match an outside offer on Davis.
Because Davis wasn’t drafted, the Rams would not receive draft-pick compensation if they gave Davis the low tender — which was $1.43 million last year — and decided not to match an outside offer.
“Internally, we haven’t totally decided yet,” Snead said of the potential tender for Davis. “We’ve got a good feel for it but we like to keep the financial part in house until we make the decision.”
Snead said he thought Hill and Davis would be better than most rookies in the 2015 draft class if they had to start in Game 1. Part of the evaluation process if the Rams draft a quarterback is projecting how good they can be over time, and how much of an upgrade they would be over Hill and Davis.
Snead pointed out that Hill beat Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, and Davis beat Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks, in starts last season.
MINI-DRAFT
After three years of having extra picks via the RGIII trade, the Rams have only five selections in this draft right now.
“I feel like we’re drafting on a diet,” Snead quipped. “So I don’t know how that’s going to go. But I think we’ve evolved to the point where the glaring needs are probably less and less.
“We’re always the kid in the candy story — you’re gonna want a lot. The ‘wants’ are always gonna be there. But we’re getting to the point where we’ve gotta use each pick strategically in trying to build our football team.”
COME AGAIN?
One of the best parts of a Snead interview session is that you never quite know what he’s going to say. That was particularly the case Wednesday.
When asked why maintaining continuity was so important to the Rams on offense given that unit’s struggles, here was Snead’s answer:
“I think in the NFL continuity’s extremely underrated,” Snead said. “I call it the 606 Principle. A guy named Paul Ehrlich, I think on the 606th try, he came up with a medication that cured syphilis. I don’t think anybody’s gonna give us 605 chances.”
No, in fact, not many regimes are retained after three consecutive losing seasons, as is the case with Snead and coach Jeff Fisher.
“The moral of that story is that you can evolve sometimes with continuity,” Snead said. “It doesn’t mean you’re gonna stay the same. ... You can learn from the past to make the future better.”
Beyond that, it had to be the first time in Combine history that a coach or general manager used the word “syphilis” during a news conference.
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_6d403676-1a2d-5cfa-abf8-c794a9c8de5d.html
INDIANAPOLIS • Stan Kroenke might be public enemy No. 1 among Rams fans. But from where general manager Les Snead sits, he has no problems with the team’s owner.
“I give him unbelievable thumbs up,” Snead said Wednesday. “He’s competitive ... the guy wants to win. Even in St. Louis where you’re a lower-revenue team, never once has there been a problem with not being able stay in and compete (financially).
“And hey, the guy knows sports. He’s got a lot of sports teams. There’s a rational patience to him, where you can tell him your process and he’ll let you evolve and see if it works.”
Snead said he hasn’t given much thought to the possibility of Kroenke moving the team to Los Angeles after the 2015 season. That’s particularly true this time of year with free agency and the draft on the horizon.
“All we can do now is go through the next phase,” Snead said. “Combine, free agency, top 30 (visits), pro days, OTAs. All those things to get ready for ’15.”
THE OTHER GUYS
Even with all the attention paid to Sam Bradford and the team’s efforts to reduce his contract, 2015 backups Shaun Hill and Austin Davis remain in the picture.
The agent for Hill, St. Louisan Bob Lattinville, is scheduled to meet with the Rams to talk about a contract.
Hill is scheduled for unrestricted free agency.
Davis, meanwhile, is scheduled for restricted free agency. The Rams are expected to make a one-year tender offer on Davis, a move that at the least would give them matching rights on any outside offers.
There are different levels of tender offers, which determine what draft pick compensation — if any — the Rams would get if they decided not to match an outside offer on Davis.
Because Davis wasn’t drafted, the Rams would not receive draft-pick compensation if they gave Davis the low tender — which was $1.43 million last year — and decided not to match an outside offer.
“Internally, we haven’t totally decided yet,” Snead said of the potential tender for Davis. “We’ve got a good feel for it but we like to keep the financial part in house until we make the decision.”
Snead said he thought Hill and Davis would be better than most rookies in the 2015 draft class if they had to start in Game 1. Part of the evaluation process if the Rams draft a quarterback is projecting how good they can be over time, and how much of an upgrade they would be over Hill and Davis.
Snead pointed out that Hill beat Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, and Davis beat Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks, in starts last season.
MINI-DRAFT
After three years of having extra picks via the RGIII trade, the Rams have only five selections in this draft right now.
“I feel like we’re drafting on a diet,” Snead quipped. “So I don’t know how that’s going to go. But I think we’ve evolved to the point where the glaring needs are probably less and less.
“We’re always the kid in the candy story — you’re gonna want a lot. The ‘wants’ are always gonna be there. But we’re getting to the point where we’ve gotta use each pick strategically in trying to build our football team.”
COME AGAIN?
One of the best parts of a Snead interview session is that you never quite know what he’s going to say. That was particularly the case Wednesday.
When asked why maintaining continuity was so important to the Rams on offense given that unit’s struggles, here was Snead’s answer:
“I think in the NFL continuity’s extremely underrated,” Snead said. “I call it the 606 Principle. A guy named Paul Ehrlich, I think on the 606th try, he came up with a medication that cured syphilis. I don’t think anybody’s gonna give us 605 chances.”
No, in fact, not many regimes are retained after three consecutive losing seasons, as is the case with Snead and coach Jeff Fisher.
“The moral of that story is that you can evolve sometimes with continuity,” Snead said. “It doesn’t mean you’re gonna stay the same. ... You can learn from the past to make the future better.”
Beyond that, it had to be the first time in Combine history that a coach or general manager used the word “syphilis” during a news conference.
