dominic zappia: Hey Jim:
Absolutely I will talk on your behalf as will several hundred of your fans who partake in your chats and read and listen to your work.Give me names,phone numbers or email address' of the person I would have to contact to get Jim Thomas on a sunday football show.We all just gotta love Jim Thomas!!!
I agree with you that Jim Haslett gets it and with better players can and will succeed.I have read where management might be worried about selling tickets for next year,but if they follow thru and rid themslves of Zygmunt and Shaw,people will come! Us fans view them as the deterent and am hopeful that Devaney and Wallace run the orginization.I will be very happy with that scenario.Your thoughts?

Jim Thomas: Thanks for your kind words.
Well, we're very close to show time for this organization. What will they do for a head coach? How will they approach free agency and the draft? What happens with Zygmunt and Shaw? We're about to find out.
Happy Holidays.

timmeno: Lets say JIm stays on as the head coach? Will we see more of the same old NO.AINTS brought in to play lb and cb and rb? Or will the Rams really look for a coach? I think alot of the wow's of our team has to do with the GM and driect of player personal? How many over 32y/o back up qb's do we need? And how many back up rb do we need that can only play special teams and not rb? Te's that cant block and are not used in the passing game? And o-linemen that are at the end of their playing days? Lets say we have some parts? Jackson and Avery Holt Barron and Hill and Long. But what does this team need to become a winner in the NFC west?
Marty as the GM/HC and a new VP Marshall, Now lets go shopping? Offer a 5rd pick to wash for Colt to become the QB in waiting and draft a RB to split carries to keep Jack fresh. Lets move Chavous and Glover and Hall and Green and Bennett and Pace and see what you can get by way of draft picks and players that are going to help our team? Bill Walsh said, sometimes you have to move a player a yr or two before he thinks he's done. Its not personal it business. And man we need to move some of the guys who ae playing for a pay check. You can spend a high pick on a QB? Or an OT? You schould have traded Pace last yr and added a FA OT for two yrs and drafted a OT early in the draft? How many Inside LB's did we miss? How many top flight O-linemen or RB's did we miss? How about tradding up into the low 1rd next yr for a RB or a Wr who could help? Re-signed Brown? Man their are kids in high school who can out run him! What is he 4.7-4.8-in 40yrds? He can tell you what kind of shoes every wr in the nfl wears because he's looking at the bottom of their shoes! You've got a few games left? Give the younger guys a shot and you may find that you've got a bunch of kids who can play in the nfl. I've almost had enough! I stopped watching football on mondays and Thrusdays and dont watch much on Sundays.
The Rams are making me look at baseball hot stove more than the sport I played. Come on man lets get this going?

Jim Thomas: At the very least, I think it's an open job search for head coach with Haslett in the mix.
Billy Devaney will have a lot more power.
I don't think you're going to see Schottenheimer here. And for the life of me, I don't see the fascination with Faulk in the front office. Glover and Dante Hall have expired contracts, so they won't be back.
I'm not sure what you would get for Pace in a trade. I don't think Green would bring anything at this stage of his career. Cap issues might keep Bennett here another year.

adam neil: A few questions 1.Will we try to deal our top 5 pick. 2.Do you think we could even attract any decent free agents or head coaches. 3.Do we get any extra picks from trades or compensatory.Thanks

Jim Thomas: 1.) I think Devaney and the Rams will listen to all offers on the top five pick, but I think they'd be hard-pressed, for example, to pass on the opportunity to get the No. 1 offensive tackle in the draft.
2.) Sure, the Rams should be able to attract decent free agents (money talks) and head coaches (As bad as the situation looks here, and I by no means want to sugar coat it, there are only 32 of these jobs in the world.)
3.) The compensatory picks aren't announced until the owners meetings at the end of March. I don't think the Rams are due any extra picks via past trades off the top of my head, but I'll try to double check.

zn2003: Burwell says: "now apparently Shaw's instincts are to gather a new list of unusual suspects for a new head coaching search and kick interim head coach Jim Haslett to the curb, mainly because Shaw thinks Haslett won't be a popular decision with the disgruntled fan base." Miklasz says: "It is believed that Rams president John Shaw is in favor of hiring a new coach."

What's concerning there is Shaw's involvement.

But Thomas says: "My sense right now is that there may not be a team president hired. Devaney runs the football operation; Bob Wallace runs the non-football stuff at Rams Park (as he always has), you hire a cap guy (or two), beef up the pro personnel department, and off you go. It would be Billy D working in concert with the new head coach. I think one line of thinking is that a president would just add another level of bureaucracy. I think Devaney would be the point man on any new head coach search as well."

Good on Devaney heading up coach searches, if true. But...which is right? Is Shaw still undead and involved? And---on not hiring a new team president. It's kind of boneheaded, if true, and has the fragrance of Shaw's way of doing things. And, not coincidentally, not hiring a new team president would leave more scope for Shaw's influence.

Can you clarify any of this? Thanks.

Jim Thomas: As we sit here right now, Shaw is still involved. He met with Haslett for a couple hours at the end of Sunday's game. At the end of the season, I think his role will be reduced greatly.

Mitch from San Diego: Hi Jim,

Thanks for your time. I noted that you have often stated that a big RB to spell Jackson should be a high priority in the 2009 draft. Well, do you think if they just have Brian Leonard focus on halfback and forget having him bulk up an play full back he could be that back?

In my view, early on when he played in place of Jackson at HB he played well and ran hard. He broke a lot of tackles, maybe more than Jackson, early on. When the coaches insisted he play fullback is when he injured his shoulders and just was not well suited physically to play a lead blocker.

Leonard was a terrific, versitle player in college and I was glad the Rams drafted him. In my mind he should have been used similar to the Michael Turner role (LaDanian Tomlinson's relief) and that seemed to be the case early on. It was not until they forced him to lead block guys that outweigh him by 80-100 lbs he became injury prone.

I'd like to see him just run the plays they call for Jackson (one-two punch) like Carolia does with Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams next season. I Believe if the Rams do that he'll have a resurgence and justify the second round pick. Have you spoken to Leonard? Would he agree with this? What do you think

Jim Thomas: Leonard does have some size and he does run hard. But I think the Rams are looking for an upgrade. Keep in mind, in college Leonard lost his starting job at HB to Ray Rice.