PFW: Rams GM job unattractive?

Pro Football Weekly poses an interesting question in the wake of the culmination of the Rams' GM search this past weekend:

[George] Paton's decision to remain with the Vikings as assistant GM raises this question: Why would he prefer to be an assistant GM in Minnesota rather than a GM in St. Louis? The most logical answer is that the Rams' GM job didn't offer a lot of authority. Kevin Demoff remains in place as the Rams' executive VP of football operations and chief operating officer, and Jeff Fisher is the new head coach with undoubtedly a fair amount of input into personnel, so the new GM may not have all that much authority. When the Steelers' [Omar] Khan turned down an opportunity to pursue the position, that may have been another indication that the job wasn't all that attractive, and the Rams' slow pace in filling the position may have been yet another sign that was the case.

There's sense in this, and Paton wasn't alone in taking a promotion to a lesser position at home vs. coming to St. Louis; Lake Dawson took the same route in Tennessee. The helm at Rams Park has clearly been turned over to Jeff Fisher, and while we can debate whether it's better for the coach or the GM to have final say over the roster, Fisher wouldn't have come here without that authority, and the last thing the Rams need would be he and the GM clashing repeatedly on roster decisions.

It's also where the last administration made one of its biggest mistakes. Billy Devaney, the veteran front office man, should have had final decision on the Ram roster over Steve Spagnuolo, the inexperienced head coach. The result of doing things the other way? You cut half your 2011 draft that season and get fractured decision-making like last year's offseason decision to pile aging veterans onto the roster.

Having decided to go with the veteran coach and a rookie GM, it's the right decision by the Rams to have tilted the balance of power toward Fisher. A GM candidate who didn't take the job because it didn't give them enough power did a poor job of assessing the situation on the ground here in St. Louis. If Les Snead's the one to figure it out and know his role coming in, I like his future prospects here even better than before.

-$-