Rams News Recap: Sept. 30

Morning Ram-blings: AEG and the NFL
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/12195/morning-ram-blings-aeg-and-the-nfl

EARTH CITY, Mo. — Consternation about the St. Louis Rams’ future in the city has begun to stir as the team trudges toward the expiration of its lease at the Edward Jones Dome after the season.

In the meantime, the discussion about a possible move to Los Angeles has remained in the background but never too far away. There are many machinations of how things could play out in Los Angeles’ efforts to get the NFL back but one constant in recent years has been the Anschutz Entertainment Group, headed by Phillip Anschutz. AEG owns the Los Angeles Kings, the Los Angeles Galaxy and a 30 percent stake in the Los Angeles Lakers.

Earlier this week, ESPN’s Arash Markazi had the news that AEG has requested an extension on its effort to find a team to put in its long planned Farmers Field project.

According to the story, AEG had a deadline of Oct. 18 to get a team to commit to coming to Los Angeles in order for the stadium and convention center plan to begin. That is almost certainly not going to happen, hence the request for the six-month extension.

Of course, the teams most commonly brought up as potential tenants in that stadium are the Rams, the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers.

While the Rams do have an expiring lease and would be free to shop around after the season barring an agreement for a new or improved stadium in St. Louis, what happens with the AEG proposal is probably only tangentially related.

Rams owner Stan Kroenke almost certainly isn’t looking to sell his team nor is he likely interested in becoming a tenant in someone else’s stadium. Of more importance here is whether AEG could use the extension to lure a different team, making Los Angeles a less attractive option.

I.C.Y.M.I.

A roundup of Tuesday’s Rams stories appearing on ESPN.com. … In the Ram-blings, we began the day with a look at the progress of running back Tre Mason. … Next, we revisited the Rams-Bills draft trade of 2013 in light of the benching of quarterback EJ Manuel. … The Rams offense is encouraged by its early progress but still has ways to improve. … Finally, we looked at the latest Power Rankings, where the Rams dipped to No. 30 on their bye week.

Elsewhere:

This week’s complete NFL Power Rankings.

Kevin Seifert’s weekly quarterback report offers a look at the work of Nick Foles, the man the Rams will see on Sunday.

At 101sports.com, Anthony Stalter makes his case for why Austin Davis should start for the Rams this week.

At stltoday.com, Jim Thomas writes about the scary offseason of center Scott Wells.

Thomas also participated in his weekly chat.