St Louis Rams: Tuesday's Rams News and Notes at Noon

Welcome to Tuesday's St. Louis Rams "News and Notes at Noon" the one stop destination for all major Rams headlines and updates with other information of interest for Rams Nation. 

Rams Begin Next Phase with First Day of Full Team OTA's Today

Stlouisrams.com senior writer Nick Wagoner reports here that nearly every Rams player, including Steven Jackson, Sam Bradford and Chris Long, were on hand for today's activities. 

Today was the first day that the Rams 2012 draft class, rookie free agents and veterans came together as one on the practice fields of Rams Park in Earth City, Missouri. 

St. Louis Rams Full Squad OTA's Begin Today

The Rams kicked off the first of several sets of organized team activities today, better known as OTA's, according to this report from Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  The full squad (veterans and almost all rookies) is on hand for OTA's today, Wednesday and Friday.  

Last week, the Rams held their rookie minicamp which involved the entire St. Louis 2012 draft class as well as 24 undrafted free agents.  

In Thomas' above-linked report, head coach Jeff Fisher shares some insight on an overview of what he expects to occur during the course of the offseason:

As we told the 'varsity' (veterans) this past week, we're going to start again from day one with the installation.  And by the time we're done in mid-June, we will have installed absolutely everything.

Then we're going to do it again when training camp starts. So when they come and report to training camp, they'll know exactly what to expect through camp. The only difference is we're going to put some pads on at times.

The Rams will have three more separate sets of OTA's over the next four weeks following the conclusion of this week's work. 

Rams Sign Wide Receiver

According to a tweet from Jim Thomas of stltoday.com, the Rams have signed free agent wide receiver Mike Campbell of Temple University: 

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Rams have signed WR Mike Campbell of Temple, who attended rookie minicamp on a tryout basis, to a contract.

—Jim Thomas‏ @jthom1

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Campbell goes 6'2" and 210 pounds.  He caught 45 passes for 724 yards and six touchdowns during his senior season at Temple. 

Last season, he signed as an undrafted free agent with the New York Jets and spent some time on their practice squad.  Campbell was placed on waivers by the Jets in March.  

St. Louis Columnist Suggests a Big Picture Approach 

St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell shared a terrific column today regarding proposed upgrades to the Edward Jones Dome. 

Burwell suggests a big picture approach from the city of St. Louis and shares the sentiments of many others: This proposal lends to the belief that Rams owner Stan Kroenke has a vision for the Rams and the city/region going forward. 

Burwell shares information estimating the costs of the Rams plan, if completed in full, to run between $500 and $700 million. He further states that, in contrast to the Rams' offer, the average cost of four new stadiums is $1.2 billion.  

Burwell offers a plethora of other benefits that could be garnered by the city/region if this proposal were to be implemented.  

He suggests a proposal similar to what the Rams offered would keep the Rams in St. Louis for 25 years or so. 

In my opinion, this will ultimately head to arbitration.  If so, the Rams will not get everything they asked for but much more than the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission offered.  

If this indeed heads to arbitration, as expected, and the CVC accepts an arbitrator's ruling (one that would probably at least look somewhat similar to the Rams' plans), the Rams would be bound to the lease and would be here at least until 2025. 

It seems very possible that a deal made that comes close to the Rams offer would likely only be agreed to with an extension beyond 2025.  

The CVC must either accept or reject the Rams plan by June 1.  If they reject it, the Rams and CVC would head to arbitration on June 15.  

Keep in mind, that the Rams and CVC can still negotiate a deal during arbitration, which could last into December. 

We will have much more on this topic in the days ahead. 

Kroenke's Intentions Analyzed in ESPN Piece

Mike Sando of ESPN shares his feelings regarding the release of the Rams counteroffer yesterday. 

Sando feels that the offer was reasonable and is an expected part of a potentially lengthy process.

Sando accurately points out that if a deal is not reached by 2015, the Rams could enter into a year to year lease at the EJD, a la the Chargers in San Diego. 

Sando offers a more detailed look at the Rams proposal here.  Sando asserts that this is not the time for Rams fans to panic. 

He further emphasizes that the counteroffer is simply one part of a process that could theoretically have many steps and be multifaceted by quoting St. Louis mayor Francis Slay's chief of staff, Jeff Rainford: 

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A lot of people are asking what it will take to keep the Rams in St. Louis. We are not at that point. The question now is what will it take to keep the Rams in the dome. If that cannot happen, then you get to the second question.

 

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Writer Suggests Rams Stadium Talks are Only Beginning But Expects A Positive Outcome

Surprisingly, Alvin Reid of 101sports.com suggests a pro St. Louis outcome in regard to the aforementioned lease negotiations.  

Reid has admitted to being a bit of a chicken little in regard to the Rams situation and has expressed doubts that the city would find a solution that would retain the Rams long term.

In this piece, Reid looks at some of the challenges that could be on the way and the potential for a drawn out process, one that he suggests is barely beginning. 

He also quotes St. Louis Rams Chief Operating Officer Kevin Demoff in the above-linked piece.

One thing that Demoff pointed out is that the Rams would likely begin a year-to-year process if the CVC did not agree to the ruling of an arbitrator, if the process indeed reaches that point. 

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CVC Estimates Rams Offer to Cost Approximately $700 Million While Others Disagree

According to a report from Matthew Hathaway of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the CVC hired a construction firm who estimated the Rams proposal to cost $700 million.

However, the article also quotes Marc Ganis of Chicago based sports firm SportsCorp, a consulting firm, who shares a different take. Gains feels the plan revealed Monday offers a good balance between getting the dome to top tier without creating a new venue:

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This appears to be a logical, feasible plan that's meant to get a positive result. This isn't a pie-in-the-sky plan designed to get to an impasse ... It looks to me like a sincere effort to get a deal done.

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Ganis feels this implemented plan would create "an iconic facility" for far less than the cost of a new one.

In the above linked piece, Ganis also shares the following thoughts:

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A new stadium is going to cost well over $1 billion. This looks like it would be roughly half of what a new stadium would cost.

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Brian Quick Rookie Minicamp Recap

Brian Quick shares his thoughts regarding last week's rookie minicamp in a video presentation at stlouisrams.com.  

To listen in, please click here. 

Mike Sando Looks at Jason Smith Situation

In this piece, Mike Sando of ESPN takes a look at St. Louis right tackle Jason Smith.

Sando asserts that a more run-centered offense could bode well for the 2009 No. 2 pick.  

Of course, Smith's health will be the biggest key to his season.  Smith has missed big checks of two of his first three seasons due to severe concussion related injuries. 

Looking at the Rams Offseason 

In yet another submission regarding the Rams, ESPN's Mike Sando breaks down the Rams offseason to date. 

Sando looks at what has went right, what has went wrong and the bottom line for St. Louis to this point in regard to the aforementioned 2012 offseason.  

Join Ron Clements of CBS Sports Tonight on STL Rams Central Radio 

Please join Ron Clements of cbssports.com on STL Rams Central Radio tonight at 8 PM central time.

Items discussed will include last weekend's rookie minicamp, the start of this week's full squad OTA's and the lease situation.  

Interactive calls from Rams Nation will also be a big part of tonight's broadcast. 

Have a great day as always, STL Rams Nation. 

Follow @ShaneGmoSTLRams