St. Louis Rams: Shane's News and Nuggets at Noon (Thursday Edition)

The St. Louis Rams' hyper-active offseason continued yesterday as the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission presented its proposal to the Rams that is designed to bring the Edward Jones Dome to the "top-tier" of all NFL stadiums as pertaining to about 12 specific criteria. 

Following the reception of the proposal, the Rams issued the following statement, as reported by turfshowtimes.com:

"

We are in receipt of the CVC proposal. The lease provides certain terms, a timeline and a process for this matter. We are reviewing the proposal and look forward to responding accordingly.

"

As is the case in most negotiations of this kind, the initial offer is rarely accepted.  The Rams have until March 1 to accept or reject the CVC's proposal.  It is generally expected that the Rams will reject the proposal and make a counter-offer by May 1. 

Even CVC President Kathleen "Kitty" Ratcliffe anticipates that adjustments will need to be made. As reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispactch, Ratcliffe said that:

"

We hope they're going to turn around in 30 days and say they love it, but we expect there to be changes.

"

Thus, it is very important to realize a couple of things:

One, the CVC did not put all of their eggs in the basket just yet.  Knowing almost certainly that the Rams will reject and counter-offer, it would be obvious that the proposed enhancements are but a starting point to what a final resolution would look like.  

Secondly, with the CVC initially asking the Rams to pay for 52 percent of the $124 million project, you can be confident that they set the bar high with that figure.  

Although it was based on a league-wide average of what teams have chipped in towards home stadium enhancements, you can assume that they realize that the Rams will counter with a much lower offer of contribution, if offering to pay at all.  It is likely, then, that the CVC hopes to meet somewhere in the middle, perhaps at a 25 to 25 percent contribution from the Rams. 

All in all, it looks to be a solid first offer, knowing that the end result will look much different and will likely be a larger project.

For all of the details of the proposal, I suggest taking a look at this.  

Speaking of the proposal, I encourage everyone to look at the CVC's video depiction of what it would look like.

As for related St. Louis Rams news, former Rams great Jerome Bettis weighed in with strong pro-St. Louis support in an article from Bernie Miklasz.  Bettis believes the Rams should stay in the Gateway City.  

The same article, by the way, shares part of a conversation that Miklasz shared with former Pro Bowl running back Eddie George, who played for St. Louis head coach Jeff Fisher with the Tennessee Titans.

Speaking of running backs, the aforementioned Miklasz also spoke with another former St. Louis great, NFL Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk.  

As for the continued general manager search, the Rams have now met with five candidates, as detailed here.  The latest to be interviewed was Atlanta Falcons director of player personnel Les Snead, who met with the team on Wednesday. 

Although the general manager search, the impending NFL free agency period, this month's NFL scouting combine and April's 2012 NFL Draft are on the minds of many St. Louis Rams fans, the lease issue and the team's long-term prognosis in (or out of) St. Louis continues to be the focus of most fans. 

Yesterday, in case you missed the article, I shared viewpoints from Rams fans from Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and California regarding where they hope the organization maintains a permanent home as well as what the Rams mean to them, in general.  

I also summarized St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay's comments regarding the proposal and what constitutes a top-tier stadium classification.

Finally, with the Super Bowl approaching, I thought it would be timely to look back at perhaps the greatest offense play in Rams history, leading them to the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl XXXIV.

Hope you all enjoy the remainder of your Thursday.  

Shane Gray covers the St. Louis Rams year-round. You are encouraged to check out the rest of his work here and to follow him on Twitter.