Rams Notes: FAs, Stadium, Los Angeles

The threat of possible 2016 relocation to Los Angeles is looming over the Rams, but general manager Les Snead doesn’t expect that to have a real impact on the team’s pursuit of free agents this winter, as Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes.

“What you’re finding is, I think as you guys know, money’s No. 1 and it’s usually who’s coaching there next,” Snead said. “We’ve gotten to this era of free agency where especially with the window of early negotiation, players aren’t taking visits any more.”

While it’s not entirely true that free agent visits are a relic of the past, Snead is probably right that a player’s salary and the team’s head coach are more important factors for players looking for a new club than the city is. If the possibility of a move to Los Angeles becomes more realistic over the next couple months, we can look forward to finding out this March whether or not that’s indeed the case.

Here’s more on the Rams:

  • Speaking of the Rams’ potential relocation, if the team does head to Los Angeles, the USC Coliseum looks like the best bet to be the franchise’s temporary home until a new stadium is constructed, according to Eloy Yndigoyen of the Daily Trojan (hat tip to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk).
  • Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com takes a look at possible relocation from the perspective of St. Louis officials, speaking with Dave Peacock, one of the executives spearheading the city’s stadium plan. Peacock admits that the future of the Rams may be out of his and the city’s hands to a certain extent, but that his group intends to move forward with the St. Louis stadium plan in hopes of either working something out with the Rams, or with the NFL for another team.
  • The Rams aren’t likely to go out and spend significant money on high-priced veterans in free agency, but the team is at a point where it can use free agency to add complementary veterans to its young core, writes Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com.
View Comments (0)