Bonsignore: Despite extension Rams/Fisher to divorce & other extension articles

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  • #60265
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Bonsignore: Despite contract extension, Rams, Jeff Fisher are likely headed for divorce

    VINCENT BONSIGNORE

    http://www.ocregister.com/articles/rams-737386-fisher-year.html

    FOXBOUROUGH, Mass. – As far as renewing wedding vows go, this is about as apprehensive as it gets.

    Forget about about reserving a chapel and reception hall. The Rams and Jeff Fisher might as well go straight to divorce court.

    That is, unless you believe the two-year contract extension Fisher and the Rams finally made public on Sunday actually means he’ll be on their sideline next season.

    It doesn’t.

    Barring a major turnaround the rest of the season – not to mention turning a deaf ear to irate Rams fan and all perspective, logic and common sense – Fisher will collect one more year of pay to essentially go away.

    The financial gesture represents the Rams appreciation for his work in getting them from St. Louis to Los Angeles and the difficulties he endured during the two-year process of breaking up with St. Louis and beginning a new life in Southern California.

    The push out the door reflects the corner Fisher backed his bosses into with another season of mediocrity, offensive struggles, excuses and lingering problems that went unfixed.

    It’s a contract extension that feels more and more like an exit package.

    Even Fisher hinted at the tenuous nature.

    “I’m expecting to be the coach of this franchise,” he said.

    But then added, practically.

    “However I really understand the wins and losses fall on my shoulders. That’s the fact of our business and I get that.”

    He’s got four weeks to change that narrative, although if the Rams are wise they’ll cut their losses and move on.

    The fan base is angry, and with PSL payments coming at some point, there’s no sense in upsetting the paying customers by holding onto a coach they’ve lost all confidence in.

    The Rams wanted the relationship with their coach to work. And still do.

    But what choice do they really have considering the fifth straight losing season he’s about to deliver?

    That was assured on Sunday when the New England Patriots dismantled the Rams, 26-10, in a methodical, clinical beatdown that highlighted all the Patriots strengths and exposed all the Rams weaknesses.

    The loss dropped the Rams to 4-8, and with the Falcons, Seahawks and Cardinals still on the schedule chances are they’ll finish below .500.

    Again.

    You’d be hard-pressed to find any coach on any level get a sixth year after five straight years of mediocrity. For the Rams to even entertain such an idea is almost an affront to the intellect.

    Most likely, they’ll part ways with Fisher at the end of this season and start fresh with a new head coach and vision and culture. Preferably someone with a track record turning offenses around and developing young quarterbacks.

    As it should be.

    Which begs a very valid question: What’s the point of even extending Fisher?

    And why now, of all moments, to put it out there?

    This is where it gets a little complicated.

    Whether you agree or disagree, the Rams felt a debt of gratitude to Fisher for holding the team together the last 24 months on the way to Los Angeles. It was an arduous process in which Fisher and his staff and players moved like nomads from Earth City, Missouri to Oxnard to Irvine to Thousand Oaks.

    “We had a lot of stuff going on this offseason,” Fisher said. “A lot of stuff going on.”

    That, coupled with reworking the depleted roster he inherited in 2012 along with General Manager Les Snead was the impetus to extend both Fisher and Snead’s contract.

    Not the greatest rational for walking down the aisle again, but the Rams were hopeful a step in the right direction this season would justify their loyalty.

    So they went to a knee during the offseason, took Fisher’s hand and asked: “So, um, how about it?”

    Almost before Fisher could blurt out yes – but not before he officially signed the contract, which he confirmed he’s done – the Rams were stuttering and stammering about needing more time to think about things.

    But even they know you don’t pop the question if you aren’t willing to accept the answer.

    The yes stood, even as the weeks went by and the losses piled up and the offense took major steps backward.

    As did the agreement, which the Rams tried to keep under wraps trying to figure out the right time to announce it.

    Fisher just rolled with it.

    “It’s not my place to make that announcement,” he said.

    That window never opened, not with another season under Fisher going sideways and Rams fans growing more and more anxious about him coming back for a new round of 7-9 seasons.

    That it came out the way it did early Sunday morning via sources and leaked information tells you all you really know about what the Rams think about the whole thing.

    Even Fisher feigned innocence, although the smart money is on someone from his camp getting word out.

    “I don’t know where it came from or the timing,” he insisted, “It just ended up coming out today.”

    As for the Rams, they barely acknowledged the report and didn’t even bother to put out a press release.

    Not exactly a happy couple, right?

    As quickly as the news broke, word was discreetly sent indicating the two-year deal essentially amounts to just a one-year contract as the Rams own the option on 2018.

    They can easily walk away from Fisher after this year and just owe him for 2017.

    Which means he’s got a four-week window to win their hearts back.

    Based on their play the last two weeks, that seems highly unlikely.

    Forget a wedding chapel.

    Divorce court seems more likely.

    #60267
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    You know, regardless how you feel about Fisher or the extension, this is the worst kind of speculative editorializing masquerading as journalism.

    Stuff like this:

    The fan base is angry, and with PSL payments coming at some point, there’s no sense in upsetting the paying customers by holding onto a coach they’ve lost all confidence in.

    This assumes that management assumes Fisher can’t win in 2017. DO they assume that? How in the heck would Vinny know? Then why does he assume it?

    Most likely, they’ll part ways with Fisher at the end of this season and start fresh with a new head coach and vision and culture.

    I see. So. You’re basically guessing. And that;s all this is.

    That, coupled with reworking the depleted roster he inherited in 2012 along with General Manager Les Snead was the impetus to extend both Fisher and Snead’s contract.

    Not the greatest rational for walking down the aisle again, but the Rams were hopeful a step in the right direction this season would justify their loyalty.

    Plus he can read minds.

    I mean he didn’t know about the extension before, but Vinny DOES actually know what it REALLY means. Smiley.

    That it came out the way it did early Sunday morning via sources and leaked information tells you all you really know about what the Rams think about the whole thing.

    Even Fisher feigned innocence, although the smart money is on someone from his camp getting word out.

    More things of beauty.

    Two days ago Vinny DIDN’T know there was an extension, but NOW he actually knows that inside the Rams organization is “camps” and they work at odds with one another, even though this is the first anyone has ever said there was such a thing.

    Look. Again. Think what you want about JF or the extension.

    But that is bs journalism, and it’s EASY to see through.

    ..

    #60268
    Avatar photoInvaderRam
    Moderator

    i agree it’s all speculation, but i just find it odd that the rams basically have nothing to say about it. the timing is odd. i just don’t think it’s a done deal that he’s coming back.

    now of course the rams could come out tomorrow and make a formal announcement.

    #60271
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    i agree it’s all speculation, but i just find it odd that the rams basically have nothing to say about it. the timing is odd. i just don’t think it’s a done deal that he’s coming back.

    now of course the rams could come out tomorrow and make a formal announcement.

    Well you find that odd until they say something about it.

    So far that just strikes me as Vinny blowing more wind into the wind.

    #60274
    sanbagger
    Participant

    When I read that article I thought I was reading another poster on a website that really just wants Fisher gone.

    I really didn’t read anything that someone “in the know” would report just some guy ranting is all I got out of it.

    I think Fish is for sure going to be here but will have to EF Hutton his way to 2018.

    #60298
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Jeff Fisher gets contract extension, but lots of questions remain

    Sam Farmer

    http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/la-sp-rams-patriots-farmer-20161204-story.html

    Rams Coach Jeff Fisher said he wasn’t going to put up with that 7-9 B.S.

    Suddenly, that B.S. stands for best scenario.

    The 4-8 Rams theoretically could finish 8-8, but who thinks they’re going to run the table in the last quarter of the season? And even if they did, just as they surged at the end last season, how much would it matter?

    In the final four games, the Rams face a pair of division leaders, Atlanta and Seattle, before the relatively soft landing of home games against San Francisco and Arizona.

    After Sunday’s 26-10 loss at New England, the Rams were guaranteed their 13th consecutive non-winning season.

    For Rams fans, the day started with a gut punch, when the awkward news broke that the club had given Fisher a reported two-year contract extension. The franchise gave a similar extension to General Manager Les Snead.

    That revelation triggered a Twitter tornado. How could a 4-7 team that’s looking to maintain momentum in Los Angeles have the audacity to extend a coach who in the last four seasons has finished 7-8-1, 7-9, 6-10 and 7-9?

    It’s unclear who leaked the information and why now. A conspiracy theorist might point to a coach trying anything and everything to save his hide, but Fisher said Sunday he had no idea who spilled the beans.

    Should the Rams be eyeing hot-handed offensive coaches — and with No. 1 pick Jared Goff, it makes sense they would be — they’re getting an up-close-and-personal refresher. Former Rams assistant Josh McDaniels is offensive coordinator of the Patriots, and Kyle Shanahan is coming to the Coliseum next Sunday with the Falcons.

    Fisher revealed in his postgame news conference that in fact his contract was completed months ago, something the Rams had repeatedly denied.

    “This was done well before the season started,” he said. “It was done well before we had 90,000 people in the Coliseum for our first preseason game.”

    Turns out, the Rams were determined to do this no matter what happened this season. Then they stayed mum, for obvious reasons in the wake of the 28-0 loss to San Francisco in the opener (the 49ers’ only win to date), but also through the three-game winning streak that followed.

    The Rams didn’t even announce the extension at Sunday’s game, only sheepishly confirming it as if it were checking off on a bit of injury news.

    “It’s out of my hands,” Fisher said when asked why the club didn’t announce the deal when it was done. “I don’t know. We had a lot going on this off-season, lot of stuff going on. It’s not my place to make that announcement.”

    Bizarre? You bet your backward baseball cap.

    Photos from the Rams’ 26-10 loss to the New England Patriots
    On a day when Patriots quarterback Tom Brady made NFL history by winning his 201st game, thereby breaking a first-place tie with Peyton Manning, Fisher took another step toward a bit of history himself.

    With 164 defeats, Fisher is one loss away from tying Dan Reeves for the most losses in league history, and, if he survives the season and doesn’t finish 4-0, the Rams leader will be the first NFL coach to keep his job after five losing seasons in a row.

    Not only that, but legendary running back Eric Dickerson said last week he won’t attend another Rams game as long as Fisher is the coach. Not what the franchise needs as it’s trying to reconnect with its nostalgic roots.

    Multiple times after Sunday’s game, Fisher made reference to all the Rams went through during their off-season relocation. The sell-by date on that excuse has long since expired. Yes, such moves are surely trying, but then again, the relocation came with a significant benefit that every other team would love to have — the Rams got to live together in a hotel and bond while sorting through their housing arrangements. It’s too late to point to that as a reason for the season going south.

    Just because Fisher has an extension doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed to be the coach for the next two seasons. He could be fired at any time, with Rams owner Stan Kroenke paying off the remainder of a deal that currently pays the coach about $6.5 million per year.

    “I truly understand that the wins and losses fall on my shoulders,” Fisher said. “That’s the fact of our business, and I get that. And I’m not looking over my shoulder.”

    In that sense, Fisher won Sunday. Yet again, his team did not.

    #60300
    Herzog
    Participant

    I wonder is someone was whispering in his ear.

    #60301
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    I wonder is someone was whispering in his ear.

    Yeah he would like you to believe that. But he doesn’t have the sheer cajones to even imply it.

    No, H, he was basically just makin stuff up. If you have sources you don’t write it that way.

    .

    #60302
    Avatar photoEternal Ramnation
    Participant

    You know, regardless how you feel about Fisher or the extension, this is the worst kind of speculative editorializing masquerading as journalism.

    Stuff like this:

    The fan base is angry, and with PSL payments coming at some point, there’s no sense in upsetting the paying customers by holding onto a coach they’ve lost all confidence in.

    Every word of this quote is factual. There is speculation in the article but the fan base is pissed and the reason for their anger is they have lost all confidence in Fisher. I’m not saying every single Rams fan has but the overwhelming majority has . Management assuming Fisher can’t win would be speculation? After 7 consecutive losing seasons assuming he will suddenly start winning in 2017 would be ludicrous .The trend is definitely pointed down. Quinn has played less than Chris Long has this year. No draft picks in sight a team full of lineman that can’t block a rb that can’t run and receivers that can’t catch. The D is in free fall and call me crazy but I am going to go ahead and assume they lose in 2017 too

    #60309
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    You know, regardless how you feel about Fisher or the extension, this is the worst kind of speculative editorializing masquerading as journalism.

    Stuff like this:

    The fan base is angry, and with PSL payments coming at some point, there’s no sense in upsetting the paying customers by holding onto a coach they’ve lost all confidence in.

    Every word of this quote is factual.

    We may just differ on how we read that. I took “they” as in “they’ve lost” as referring to Rams management. So if you look at that way, my comment makes sense—what if management thinks he can win. BUT you;re probably right that “they” refers to fans, not management.

    And he does more that just speculate in those other comments. He is completely full of nonsense in those. I think Vinny is the new Bernie, and that’s not a compliment.

    I stressed–this is whether or not you are for or against keeping Fisher. I don’t like bad writers no matter what. Heck I didn’t like Bernie whether he was in a pro-regime phase or an anti-regime phase.

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