Los Angeles Rams Rumors & News - Pro Football Rumors

Rams Hire Gregg Williams As DC

By Luke Adams | at February 12, 2014 12:39 pm

FEBRUARY 12: The Rams have officially announced Williams as their new defensive coordinator, with a press conference scheduled for tomorrow morning.

JANUARY 29: As reported by Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter) and confirmed by the team (Twitter link), the Rams decided not to bring back defensive coordinator Tim Walton for the 2014 season. According to Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (via Twitter), the Rams intend to replace Walton with veteran coach Gregg Williams.

Williams, 55, was the head coach of the Bills from 2001 to 2003, though he’s perhaps better known for his role in the Saints’ bounty scandal. As the defensive coordinator of a unit that allegedly awarded bonuses to players for hits that inflicted injuries on opposing players, Williams received a year-long suspension from the NFL in 2012.

If and when his hiring is made official, it won’t be the first time Williams has accepted the same position from the Rams. He had been poised to act as the team’s defensive coordinator in 2012, having been hired before the league handed down the one-year suspension. Williams was eventually let go by St. Louis last January without having ever coached for the team, and spent the 2013 with the Titans as a defensive assistant.

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NFC West Notes: Peterson, Seahawks, Rams

By Luke Adams | at February 6, 2014 3:04 pm

A report from Pro Football Talk this week indicated that Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson hadn’t ruled out the possibility of a holdout, but Peterson’s comments themselves were more innocuous than the headline suggested. Asked about the possibility of holding out, Peterson said that he and his agent have yet to discuss his contract situation and added, “I can’t speak on that right now.”

The NFL’s new rookie pay scale reduced the leverage of players like Peterson when they become extension-eligible, making a new deal less likely during the coming offseason. But even without a long-term extension, Peterson isn’t likely to hold out, opines ESPN.com’s Josh Weinfuss. Noting that Peterson dislikes bye weeks because they mean a few days away from football, Weinfuss expresses skepticism that the young All-Pro would willingly sit out OTAs and minicamps, let alone any actual games.

Here’s more from around the NFC West:

Coming off a Super Bowl win, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll doesn’t think his roster requires any significant additions, as Tim Booth of The Associated Press writes. “I don’t see anything that we need to add,” Carroll said. “We just have to get better.”
There’s a good chance the Seahawks cut players like Sidney Rice, Zach Miller, and Chris Clemons this offseason to create cap space to retain more important roster pieces, according to Joel Corry of CBSSports.com. However, as Corry outlines, given all the players who will require new deals within the next couple years, Seattle could lose plenty of veteran talent during that period, especially since teams have a tendency to overpay players on Super Bowl teams.
While there’s nothing wrong with adding reinforcements in free agency, the Rams should be building through the draft rather than spending big on free agents, says Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com.

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Rams Eyeing Return To Los Angeles?

By Zachary Links | at January 31, 2014 10:47 am

FRIDAY, 10:47am: At a press conference today, commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters that Kroenke informed the league of his Los Angeles land purchase, and that he’s not aware of any plans for stadium developments on that land (Twitter link via Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com). Goodell also cautioned against “overreacting” to the news (Twitter link via Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com).

THURSDAY, 8:13pm: Rams owner Stan Kroenke is said to have bought a 60-acre lot in Inglewood, California that could potentially be a used for an NFL stadium, sources tell Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times. The timing of this development is especially curious since the Rams have been unable to secure a new stadium in St. Louis and can move after the 2014 season per the terms of their lease agreement.

So far, the Rams have declined comment when asked about whether they’ve secured the piece of land in question. Farmer rightfully notes that 60 acres of land alone wouldn’t be enough to accommodate a stadium and the necessary parking, but an adjacent 238-acre lot could conceivably become available for purchase and tied into a project.

Los Angeles has been without an NFL franchise since the Rams and Raiders left after the 1994 season. The L.A. market has been used as leverage many times to get stadium deals done in other cities, but this is the first time an NFL owner has bought a piece of land in the L.A. area capable of accommodating a stadium. Relocation would be a very complicated process and would require the support of three-quarters of NFL owners, but the temptation to bring an NFL franchise to the nation’s second-largest media market has been strong ever since it was left without professional football nearly 20 years ago.

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Team Facebook/Twitter/RSS

By Luke Adams | at January 21, 2014 11:45 am

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