When the St. Louis Rams hired Les Snead to become general manager almost three years ago, it looked like a wise move. The product on the field was repulsive to look at. Angry fans started threatening to sell their personal seat licenses, and some people stopped showing up. The decision even to this day was a good move by this franchise.
Snead has carved out a solid NFL career spanning now decades. He got his first NFL job as a pro scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars when Tom Coughlin was head coach back in 1995 and served in that position for two years before spending the next 14 season with the Atlanta Falcons. In his last three seasons with the Falcons as director of Player Personnel, they went 37-16 and went to the playoffs. In St. Louis at that time, some would have traded the Arch or maybe toasted ravioli for a stretch of winning like that.
After the 2011 season, the Rams were in need of a head coach and a general manager. They hired Jeff Fisher, and he would play a hand in selecting Snead as GM. Snead is young. He has charisma and charm and can be quite a gambler. While director of Player Personnel with the Falcons in 2011, they gave up 1st, 2nd and 4th round draft picks for wide out Julio Jones, who has lived up to his top billing since his collegiate days in the SEC.
Then Snead arrived in St. Louis, and after his introductory press conference you could feel things about to change. Snead got a lot of much deserved praise for the RGIII trade with the Washington Redskins. Snead and the Rams were able to acquire six total picks from that trade, and five of those six players are starters. The exception is running back Zac Stacy, who lost his starting job to rookie Tre Mason.
That’s progress, and the Rams have made some since Snead took over. However, the Rams still remain idle after the 16th game of the season. They’ve put a little distance between going 1-15 and 2-14. Nevertheless, 7-9 or 6-10 is no reason to celebrate either.
After the conclusion of last season, the Rams seemed poised to make 2014 their season to get over .500 and possibly qualify for the playoffs. The Rams had limited salary cap space, and Snead stuck to the original game plan of building the roster through the draft, refusing to give in to the temptation of spending frivolously during free agency.
Snead’s gamble in that sense has paid off. Just look at defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who is going to the Pro Bowl as a rookie. He was the second first-round pick for the Rams in last year’s draft. Donald was so dominating that he ended taking Kendall Langford’s spot on the line, and Langford is a veteran entering the final year of a $24 million contract.
It’s not just Donald, either – Alec Ogletree, EJ Gaines, Tim McDonald, and undrafted Rodney McLeod have played better than advertised.
Now, the danger of gambling is always losing. And if you lose and lose badly, the trickle-down effect will continue to retard the growth of this franchise. The signings of Jake Long, Courtland Finnegan, Scott Wells, and Jared Cook have not paid dividends.
Then there’s the bromance with oft-injured Sam Bradford, which is a true mystery of the universe. The Rams want him back, and he wants to come back. But, not at the $16 million price tag (according to SPORTSTRAC). If both sides can work out a deal, then fine, but they better put a fortress, a stone castle, two fire-breathing dragons and a moat filled with piranha around Sam Bradford to protect him.
This off-season may be the one that determines whether or not the gamble was worth it. A lot of GMs and head coaches don’t get this long to turn a team around. By this time next year, we’ll see if the gamble paid off.
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