JC: Jim,
Just wanted to say thank you very much for doing these chats and putting up with our rantings. I hope you'll do some live chats in the off-season.

Jim Thomas: Thanks. It's good to be back. And we will have offseason chats, although I'm not sure about the schedule. Please stay tuned. A word about last week: Last Friday's scheduled 1 p.m. chat had to be canceled at the last minute. Sorry for any inconvenience. Normally, the press conferences involving Linehan, Olson, and Haslett the day after games takes place at 4 p.m. But Friday's press conferences after the Pittsburgh game were moved up to 1 p.m., which blew me out of the box.

T-Man: happy holidays, Mr. Thomas....

The Rams organization is obviously undergoing tremendous change....my question....does the organization have long-range plans and goals in place or, in your opionion, is everything done by the seats of their pants? Is there a secret, well-thought process that will be shown to fans over the next year or so or will the instability continue?

Thoughts?

Jim Thomas: It may not look that way, but sure there's planning. Jay Zygmunt, for example, always plans out the salary cap two, three years in advance. That's one reason why the Rams never seem to get in salary cap hell like sometimes. One reason why Linehan is coming back for Year 3 is the very fact that Shaw thinks changing coaches ever two years is not the most stable way to run a franchise.

Gus: Thanks for answering my question beforehand Jim.

What type of draft pick will the Rams get for the FA losses of Shaun Mcdonald and Kevin Curtis? Curtis is leading the Eagles in rec. yards while Mcdonald is lead the Martz-Run Offense in receptions and rec yards. From those stats, could we expect 3rd rounders for both? Im expecting a 5th or below for each of them. Thanks again Jim.

Jim Thomas: The formula for compensatory draft picks is complicated, and involves not only production but takes into account (I believe) how much the free agents will be paid. So the signing of Drew Bennett to a $30 million contract will work against the Rams somewhat. The signing of LB Chris Draft will work against the Rams as well to some degree. So I'm not sure that getting a third-round pick for each is a realistic assessment. However, TE Randy McMichael (who was cut by the Dolphins before the Rams picked him up)and return man Dante Hall (acquired in a trade) don't count because they weren't unrestricted free agents. The compensatory picks aren't announced until the owners meetings in March.

JR: I think I speak for a lot of other Rams' fans with this question. We all now know that the health of our owner, Ms.Frontiere is not good and from what we have read, she won't be with us much longer. The question is how long will she survive? This is NOT a death watch, merely a question to try to ascertain what may happen with this team in the off season. IF the management has their hands tied, could we possibly see a lame duck coach and administration until the team is sold? Thanks for your reply.

Jim Thomas: Well JR, you have asked one of the all-timers. How long will a person live? All I can say is the long-term prognosis isn't good.

JR: Do you think the sale of the team has been in the works for at least a month or so? IF so, are any names being mentioned? Thanks

Jim Thomas: I still think Kroenke would like to own the team, but because of the NFL's cross ownership rules, he must first divest himself of the Denver Nuggets NBA team and the Colorado Avalanche NHL team. If (and when) Georgia Frontiere passes, Chip Rosenbloom will own the team at least for the short term. But obviously Shaw has begun thinking about possible buyers.