Will the Jaguars stay in Jacksonville?
Posted by Gerardo Orlando (11/30/2011 @ 9:41 am)
Mike Florio isn’t convinced. He makes a good point about Wayne Weaver’s credibility, as Weaver insisted repeatedly that the Jaguars were not for sale. There’s no provision requiring Shahid Khan to keep the team in Jacksonville as part of the sale, and while the lease extends to 2029, there may be ways to get around it. Given the amount of money at stake and the specter of Los Angeles looming out there as a possible destination, anything is possible at this point.
As a Browns fan, I’m sympathetic to any situation where a community might lose a team. But Jacksonville just doesn’t support the team. Let’s see if the community can rally around the new owner and convince him to keep the Jaguars in Jacksonville.
Will Rams benefit from having a new owner in an un-capped year?
Posted by Anthony Stalter (02/11/2010 @ 12:32 pm)
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that owners Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez have agreed to sell the Rams’ franchise to Shahid Khan, an auto-parts manufacturer based in Urbana, Illinois. The sale still has to be approved by three-fourths of the NFL owners for it to become finalized, however.
Assuming the sale does go through, this could be yet another crucial step in the rebuilding process for the Rams. The first step was taken last year when the team hired former Giants’ defensive coordinator Steve Spaguolo to become their next head coach.
According to the Dispatch article, Khan is an enthusiastic Rams fan who has attended home games at the Edward Jones Dome and who is committed to keeping the team in St. Louis. That’s obviously good news for the stability of the franchise, but what about the on-field product?
Seeing as how the NFL is heading into an un-capped year, it could wind up benefiting the Rams that they now have a new, energized owner that is willing to spend in order to improve the roster. The team already owns the No. 1 pick in the draft and if Khan is willing to make a splash in the free agent market, the Rams could turn their misfortune around rather quickly.
Of course, spending money doesn’t always result in on-field production. Washington owner Daniel Snyder has spent years shelling out big bucks for free agents and the Redskins only have two playoff appearances (2000, 2006) in the past 10 years to show for it. General manager Billy Devaney still has to acquire the right pieces this offseason, regardless of whether or not he has financial backing from Khan.
Either way, this is shaping up to be an interesting offseason in St. Louis.
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