Dak wrote:

I can see a scenario where Stan tries to poach Stanos and make him more more a partner in the Inglewood deal, leaving Oakland out to dry.

If I were the Raiders’ owner, I’d make it sound like St. Louis was an intriguing option, because if they lose the L.A. market, they’re going to need more options to force a deal in Oakland.

I agree with that. Especially since the San Antonio threat never got any traction.

And what St. Louis has to offer is above the median point in the league, I would think. It’s a more attractive community and stadium than most teams have.

Herzog wrote:

Well, nobody can force them to move to St. Louis if they don’t want to. Or can they?

I agree, no stadium sharing and no turf. I guess Kroenke would want two teams as this means more profits for him.

I doubt they can force a move. But that isn’t the way it’s usually done in business and politics. It’s usually leverage, rather than a demand. They can probably create circumstances in which moving is the best option for the Raiders. Pretty simple, really. “You’re not going to Los Angeles. Oakland isn’t building a stadium for you. Here’s St. Louis. What would you like to do?”

I did a bit of reading around. Carol is 82 years old now. It doesn’t seem likely that Mark can afford the taxes any more than Georgia’s heirs could. And a move to LA would increase the value of the Raiders, and hence the unlikelihood that Mark could afford the tax bill.

This is some high stakes poker here. And the game is still afoot. It’s just that the Raiders got the shittiest hand when the cards were dealt.

PA Ram wrote:

This is all going to be very interesting when it gets to the finish line.

It’s musical chairs and someone is not getting a chair.

The team that “feels” like the odd team out is Oakland. Maybe that’s just because they’ve been the quietest team during all this. There is no doubt that the Chargers and Rams are full speed ahead toward L.A. but because their moves involve two different stadiums, something has to give somewhere. At some point the NFL will have to get Spanos and Kroenke and Davis in a room and lock the door and not come out until it’s all sorted out and even then–if things go badly you have to wonder if teams will say “screw it” and do what they want to do anyway.

I still feel, at the end of the day, that somehow it’s going to be the Rams and Chargers but nothing is carved in stone yet.

We’ll see.

Oakland does feel like the odd team out.

1. In the survey of the LA market, there was a great deal of interest in the Rams, some in the Chargers, and little for the Raiders. In fact, there was some negative response to the Raiders.

2. The Raiders are the poorest team. They can’t do anything without help. They can’t build a stadium. How are they going to pay a relocation fee?

3. The Raiders have the shakiest ownership. I didn’t know this before now, but apparently Davis is going to have to pass through inheritance issues where Chip and Lucia could not. A Raiders sale? Subsidize a team moving to LA when ownership could be uncertain soon?

In contrast, Kroenke is a titan financially, and has an entire complex ready to go, and can afford to pay the NFL a substantial fee, plus provide an entire Super Bowl party venue.

I do not think the Raiders have any control of their destiny. Whatever is going to happen to them in the next decade is going to happen TO them. Davis can say whatever he wants about the Raiders’ destiny. I think their destiny is going to be determined by 31 other owners.

And I’m with WV. I don’t want the Rams to share a stadium.

Can only speculate, obviously. But I am going to guess that Barksdale’s value to the Rams dropped when Havenstein was picked. They have that guy slated to start. That means that, at best Barksdale would be a placeholder for a handful of games, and then go be quality backup. You don’t pay $4 million for a backup RT.

I’m guessing the Rams “interest” in Barksdale post-draft was of the “come-down-to-earth” variety, and whatever they may have offered before was probably withdrawn.

And I think I have to agree that he should find a new agent. Given the depth of OL in this draft, his value was only going to go down afterwards.

I am glad my name is not Chase Goodbread.

laram wrote:

bnw wrote:

wv wrote:

—————————————
Laramie

You can grind it out all day but it’s gonna take more plays which increases the odds for error.

If I have a superior pass game, I don’t need as many possessions.

We’ll see how it all plays out, but I’m usually pretty dialed in on the Rams.
=================

For someone who claims to be dialed into the Rams he’s missed the main goal (besides winning) of Fisher’s system. That is he wants a ball control offense to keep the other teams defense on the field and wore down by the 4th quarter. The assumption is our defense will be better rested and able to keep our offense within 7 points of the lead starting their final game winning drive while running out the clock.

I think even Ray Charles can see what Fisher wants to do.

Again a superior pass offense doesn’t need as many possessions to score.

Who were the rb’s for the last 5 SB winners? Quick name them??

Exactly.

Okay. But there was no way they were going to get a superior pass offense in this draft.

Gurley was there at 10. Cooper and White were gone. And Foles…well…he isn’t Warner. Who also was unavailable at 10.

Things are never easy, are they?

This right here is exactly why I would never want to have the job of a judge.

I will say this.

My compassion level for Phillips just went up. I find that’s what information often does to early judgement.

I don’t know, man. Tragedy. The whole story. Just tragedy.

bnw wrote:

Again it doesn’t have to be an ACL. As serious an injury as an ACL. Any of those four enter the league as injured as Gurley? The Rams have such great need other places and RB wasn’t one. An injured one at that. Great expectations for TA which haven’t materialized is this deja vu? Is this what our draft board does for the offense? Will this extend the Rams streak of 11 years since a first round pick on offense has been worth it? This pick makes my stomach churn.

Whom would you have taken? Waynes? Peat? Parker?

We aren’t talking about how to get Benny Cunningham more involved in the offense. Austin is discussed this way because of our expectations of the guy.

I think Wagoner is right about the owners’ meetings. Moving the File to Move date up seems very likely to me to be the next move in this game which – I agree – ends with the Rams in LA next year, and the Chargers a year or two after that.

Interesting word choice: “macabre.”

zn wrote:

Zooey wrote:

He’s a punt returner.

I don’t agree.

He does catch passes, and does do a combo of things in the passing game. IMO he is only a “failure” in that regard if someone expected him to be a pure receiver.

He also can run the ball out of the backfield.

And he can also return punts.

He can do those things, yes. A few times a game.

I see him as a poor man’s Amp Lee.

I liked him too, though I hardly have watched him. I’ve seen fewer than 100 shows, I would guess. But I saw enough to think more highly of him than any other late night host, including Carson, who was great.

Letterman had a knack for pointing out that the mundane and facile could be entertaining if you just had enough sense of humor yourself. That combined with the acerbic wit you point out…he covered the gamut. He was amused, and he amused us.

The NFL has screwed up a lot of discipline.

That’s true.

And irrelevant.

Holy crap.

I would expect that kind of expectation only from a Rams fan. I doubt even most of the Rams beat writers would rate them that highly.

I like them.

I think they have a young corps that is now hitting its stride. I could really see this team taking off. I thought they were ready to step up last year until Bradford was lost, and the OL got wiped out. Again.

But now there is hope that with stability in schemes, and with some experience, this young, young team could elevate itself this year.

I like them better than the Cardinals and 9ers.

wv wrote:

Sacks/Stuffs doesnt seem to have much
relationship to winning, if the top
of that chart is any indication.

w
v

One also needs to score points.

661 yards and 1 TD in two seasons.

I’d prefer a receiver who was kept less of a secret.