The city of St. Louis and the development commission tasked with extracting funds to finance a new Rams stadium along the Mississippi River front continued their arguments in court Thursday.
At the crux of this is a St. Louis city ordinance that requires a public vote for city funds to be used to finance a stadium, and the Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority (curiously referred to as the RSA) insists that ordinance is restricting its ability to keep the Rams in St. Louis, according to John Henry of KSDK, a local TV station.
What the RSA refers to as “broad” language in the 2002 city ordinance prompted the commission to sue the city in order to ask a judge if the law is constitutional, and St. Louis mayor Francis Slay said the city would defend the ordinance “vigorously.”
This is just one of the many disconnects between cities and their football futures occurring right now as the Los Angeles market appears set to re-open.
Here are some other notes from the NFC this afternoon.
- In speaking with ESPN.com’s Ed Werder, Drew Brees is “very convinced” the Saints will win another Super Bowl before he retires (Twitter link). The presumptive Hall of Famer also iterated he was “heartbroken” after the team shipped Jimmy Graham to Seattle on Day 1 of free agency, noting that there were “big plans” for Graham in the ensuing years of the star tight end’s contract. Stripped of key weaponry and coming off a disappointing 7-9 season, the Saints are not an attractive pick to challenge for an NFC title this season. But the 36-year-old quarterback hasn’t missed the playoffs in back-to-back campaigns since the 2007-08 bracket absences, and it’s not like the NFC South is teeming with juggernauts.
- Housing one of the league’s worst tight end stables, the Falcons are the latest team to give the injury-riddled Tony Moeaki a chance. Despite making just $744K this season, Moeaki will compete with Jacob Tamme — the Broncos’ third-string tight end last season who signed a two-year, $4MM contract in March — to be the Falcons’ top pass-catching tight end, writes D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Incumbent Levine Toilolo received the worst pass-receiving grade from Pro Football Focus among 67 qualified tight ends last season, opening the door for an odd Tamme-Moeaki battle.
- At special teams coach Mike Priefer‘s request, the Vikings declined to bring in competition for Jeff Locke at punter, writes Ben Goessling of ESPN.com. A fifth-round pick in 2013, Locke ranked 25th in yards per punt (39.2) last season and dropped just 8% of his boots inside the 10-yard line, which was 30th.