The REAL reason Draft was released ...

[RamsInfiniti]

Being reported by Len. P. of ESPN that Draft was released because he went to Chip to complain about his pay cut. Apparently, both Daveney and Spags were aware that it was a common practice in St. Louis for Rams players to go behind the back of the coaches, and even Shaw and Zygmunt, when they were unhappy with situations and decisions that were being made. Daveney and Spags have made it very clear that this would not be tolerated.

If this were this case, good riddance to Chris Draft. We don't need this kind of B.S. on the squad. Kudos to Spags and crew in establishing who is in control of what goes on here....

[Varg6]

Re: The REAL reason Draft was released ...

Wow...That's childish to say the least...Good for Spags and Company.

[Azul e Oro]

Re: The REAL reason Draft was released ...

Dunno, Infiniti. I'd go to the guy who signs the checks if a supervisor told me I needed to take a paycut or be fired for no good reason,too.

The money involved was small potatoes & it's hard to believe that a guy who could play all 3 LB spots would have lost his spot for purely football reasons especially so soon after surviving the final cuts which are ,essentially, a performance/value/cost assessment.I think Draft had good reason to be peeved.

Personally, I wouldn't have been as surprised if he'd been cut earlier; just another "take your lumps now" decision for the future good.But the timing was still suspiciously strange.

I think there's more to the story than we'll ever know. By all accounts, Draft was an exemplary Ram on and off the field, and I think it's probably unfair to paint him as a troublemaker.

[39thebeast]

Re: The REAL reason Draft was released ...

Draft is a high character guy, there is no doubt about it. He does alot to help the community, but this was a bad move on his part. Less money is better than no money

[MauiRam]

Re: The REAL reason Draft was released ...

Sounds as if he was asked to "take one for the team" and he refused. I can't help but think Spags would have explained the reasoning behind the original request (pay cut), and Draft was more interested in maintaining a higher salary than he was in remaining a Ram. Yes it's a business, so perhaps his agent told Draft he could get him a better deal elsewhere .. Does anyone know if he's been signed by another team?

[RamsInfiniti]

Re: The REAL reason Draft was released ...

Dunno, Infiniti. I'd go to the guy who signs the checks if a supervisor told me I needed to take a paycut or be fired for no good reason,too.

The money involved was small potatoes & it's hard to believe that a guy who could play all 3 LB spots would have lost his spot for purely football reasons especially so soon after surviving the final cuts which are ,essentially, a performance/value/cost assessment.I think Draft had good reason to be peeved.

Personally, I wouldn't have been as surprised if he'd been cut earlier; just another "take your lumps now" decision for the future good.But the timing was still suspiciously strange.

I think there's more to the story than we'll ever know. By all accounts, Draft was an exemplary Ram on and off the field, and I think it's probably unfair to paint him as a troublemaker.

If you are working for a big corporation and are asked to take a pay cut, you don't go and call the CEO do you? That is not have the normal person reacts to such a situation ...

As for no good reason, what reason does there have to be? The Rams wanted to get rid of an older, overpaid player that may or may not have seen much time on the field this year. Getting rid of such player gives them an opportunity to see younger talent out there. We are preparing for the future, why waste time with a 33 year old veteran? I know it sounds harsh, but its a business, it's how the world works. The NFL is like most business, they don't have to offer you any explanation as to why they let you go. The move was for the better of the franchise, so be it. Draft shouldn't whine about it ...

I am certain that this situation was explained to Draft very clearly, and he did not want to take a paycut for the better of the team. He is getting near the end of his career and wants to earn every dime he can. He probably won't have a real opportunity to win here before he retired or got pushed out anyway, which was likely after this year ...

If what Len. P. is true, and considering very few media persons want anything to do with the Rams, so I will assume he did his DD here, then Draft deserved to be let go. You don't need loose cannons jumping the tiers of the system here. In my opinion, there is very little, if any, reasons for a player EVER to contact ownership. There are likely a few tiers of competent individuals between the field and Chip. The fact that Draft probably got the answer he didn't want to hear as he worked up each one is his own issue . Maybe I am wrong, but that's how I feel ...

[ScottD413]

Re: The REAL reason Draft was released ...

I don't understand why some of you are so upset Draft was released. He was in his 10th or 11th year and he was never anything more than a below average player. He wasn't going to suddenly get better.

I think it makes sense to cut ties with him and move on to a younger player who may improve over time. Draft is as good as he's going to get, and that isn't saying much

[NJ Ramsfan1]

Re: The REAL reason Draft was released ...

Assuming the story is true, Draft's mistake was showing bad form and going behind the coaches' back. Running right to the owner over some perceived slight is guaranteed to have negative consequences.

This may very well have transpired in that last week before the reg. season, which explains the "poor timing" of his release.

[r8rh8rmike]

Re: The REAL reason Draft was released ...

Assuming the story is true, Draft's mistake was showing bad form and going behind the coaches' back. Running right to the owner over some perceived slight is guaranteed to have negative consequences.

This is the way I see it. Draft was a good guy, a popular teammate and hardly a below average LB, but you have to do things the right way. If the story about him going to Chip is true, Draft got what he deserved by showing up his coach. That's just not gonna fly.

[Azul e Oro]

Re: The REAL reason Draft was released ...

If you are working for a big corporation and are asked to take a pay cut, you don't go and call the CEO do you? That is not have the normal person reacts to such a situation ...

As for no good reason, what reason does there have to be? The Rams wanted to get rid of an older, overpaid player that may or may not have seen much time on the field this year. Getting rid of such player gives them an opportunity to see younger talent out there. We are preparing for the future, why waste time with a 33 year old veteran? I know it sounds harsh, but its a business, it's how the world works. The NFL is like most business, they don't have to offer you any explanation as to why they let you go. The move was for the better of the franchise, so be it. Draft shouldn't whine about it ...

I am certain that this situation was explained to Draft very clearly, and he did not want to take a paycut for the better of the team. He is getting near the end of his career and wants to earn every dime he can. He probably won't have a real opportunity to win here before he retired or got pushed out anyway, which was likely after this year ...

If what Len. P. is true, and considering very few media persons want anything to do with the Rams, so I will assume he did his DD here, then Draft deserved to be let go. You don't need loose cannons jumping the tiers of the system here. In my opinion, there is very little, if any, reasons for a player EVER to contact ownership. There are likely a few tiers of competent individuals between the field and Chip. The fact that Draft probably got the answer he didn't want to hear as he worked up each one is his own issue . Maybe I am wrong, but that's how I feel ...

Maybe not the CEO but I'd have gone to HR for sure and probably a lawyer,too. Aren't there pretty strict laws about the grounds required for dismissal especially for contracted employees ?

But as you say, this is football, not the business world, so I probably shouldn't have made such a direct comparison . I don't think this is comparable to a layoff,though. The Rams had the money to spend; they just wanted to spend it on another employee. That,I would think, might be grounds for a lawsuit in the biz world.I don't think you can treat employees so much like property in the biz world.Close, sad to say, but not quite. Where are AV & GC when we need them?! LOL

In any case this is a rumor and speculation as to what Draft did and how he and The Rams interacted on it, not confirmed fact. As I said, I doubt we'll ever know how it really went down. I think it is just as plausible that our FO screwed up in the tumult and had to fix it with the legal but nasty tactic of asking Draft to take a pay cut they knew he wouldn't take.

I do agree that letting Draft go makes longterm sense for the reasons you mention. In the short term, I think it was very risky. I wonder if you would have parroted the youth movement party line as glibly if Lau's knee injury had been more serious,for example.

And,again, the timing made it look less like a football decision than a business one & hastily-made at that.Isn't it The FO's job to have a handle on both criteria before making the final cut to 53?

Not a biggie, considering the whoppers that have been made in the past that created the money shortfall in the first place. But there's nothing to be gained from assuming that The Powers That Be are infallible when the evidence is as sketchy as this. I'm thinking Bush Administration, Wall St,etc, as well as pro sports.

I'm also not willing to endorse a blanket condemnation of anyone who might have tried an end-around on the likes of Shawgmunt, Limpehan,et al. Even in the military there's such a thing as an illegal order,isn't there? And if the system is so corrupted by inefficiency,power games and intimidation, what else is a fellow to do but go outside the system channels?

That's often considered classically heroic whistleblowing,no?

Since Draft was a good citizen , still had arguably considerable short term football value, and the decision's timing was so off, I'm inclined to give the guy the benefit of the doubt and call him a sacrificial lamb to the mess of the prior regime and probably a small misstep by the new one.

edit: Btw, The Rams aren't a corporation. They are a family owned business so I think the CEO comparison is even less valid. Chip can overrule his underlings in a way that a CEO never could. Goodness knows Georgia seemed to have made many crucial decisions based on personal, rather than business criteria, & there were no shareholders except the minority owners to hold her to task for it,never mind a board who could fire her.

[UtterBlitz]

Re: The REAL reason Draft was released ...

Seems a bit drastic to me if it is true. $380,000 is not a lot of money to a football team.

Guess the other players should take notice and not get caught talking to the owner.

[AvengerRam_old]

Re: The REAL reason Draft was released ...

NFL teams do not, as a general rule, offer guaranteed contracts. As a result, continued employment is essentially "at will." A team can cut a player for any reason at any time.

[Azul e Oro]

Re: The REAL reason Draft was released ...

NFL teams do not, as a general rule, offer guaranteed contracts. As a result, continued employment is essentially "at will." A team can cut a player for any reason at any time.

Thanks, AV, for the clarification.

Whatever the truth of the Draft situation, The Rams have moved on, & I think we should as well. It's not as if the guy is going to be living in a cardboard box under the freeway somewhere.

[Nick]

Re: The REAL reason Draft was released ...

That's kind of a bush league move by Draft, if the story is true.

[Goldenfleece]

Re: The REAL reason Draft was released ...

I'm not clear on what the coaches have to do with it at all. When was the last time anyone heard of a coach deciding to renegotiate someone's contract? I'm sure they have input as to how valuable a player is to the team, but I was under the impression that typically the coaches dealt with the players on the field, and the front office dealt with the players' agents when it came to the money. It would seem like the slight was specifically that he tried to go over Devaney's head on this one, and it didn't work.