Les Snead‘s job status continues to generate disparate stances, but the latest points to the Rams GM being ousted. Snead is expected to follow Jeff Fisher out the door, according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, who notes the five years without a winning record — and Los Angeles boasting the league’s worst offense — will make it difficult to generate enthusiasm from a fanbase the franchise is attempting to grow now that it’s back in California.
Earlier this month, a report emerged that Snead was expected to survive, with another indicating the GM was not long for employment in L.A. With the Rams having lost to the 49ers and dropping to 4-11 — in line for their worst record since 2011, the final year of the pre-Snead/Fisher regime — it’s obvious the more fan-friendly move would be to start fresh.
Here’s more from around the league on Christmas Day.
- Neither Trent Baalke nor Chip Kelly is expected to survive Black Monday, per Volin, with a new 49ers GM expected to be able to select his own coach. Kelly’s team won its first game since Week 1 in beating the Rams in L.A., but the formerly sought-after coach steered the team to its worst losing streak in the franchise’s 70-year history. Baalke could land in Denver due to his solid relationship with Broncos GM John Elway, but the sixth-year decision-maker has overseen a 49ers freefall over the past two years after that run of three consecutive conference championship games.
- Josh Norman considered overtures from the Bears this offseason but told Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune) postgame the sides weren’t on the same page. “At one point they were in the running,” Norman said. “They weren’t talking what I was talking about, though. I evaluate the team as well but if you’re not in the same [area when it comes to pay], you’re disqualified.” Washington beat out several teams to sign Norman, who intercepted two passes on Sunday, for five years and $75MM.
- Dirk Koetter did not address Doug Martin‘s future with the Buccaneers after the team’s loss to the Saints on Saturday, noting that his decision to make the running back a healthy scratch came from believing previous injury replacement Jacquizz Rodgers was a better option, per Bradley Handwerger of the Associated Press. Rodgers was a healthy inactive last week. Martin’s $7MM salary next season is fully guaranteed as part of his five-year, $35.75MM deal, but no guaranteed money is part of this deal after 2017.
- The Giants clinched their first playoff berth in five years Saturday, but a view around the league is they’ve received a reputation of seeing leniency from the commissioner’s office. This comes after they were penalized a maximum of 12 draft slots for their walkie-talkie infraction. “My understanding is that folks inside the Giants organization, they generally win the jump balls,” Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk said during a radio appearance (via Ryan Hannable of WEEI.com). “They have that working in their favor. The John Mara connection. Look, it’s a league where the commissioner formally answers to the owners, so the most influential owners are going to have the greatest influence on the commissioner. Teams realize [they] don’t have any juice with the commissioner and other teams do. The Giants do. It’s not a surprise.” When comparing this penalty to the league docking the Chiefs a third-round pick for committing a common violation regarding premature free agency dialogue with Jeremy Maclin, Florio categorized the Giants as getting off easy.
Norman, at least talent-wise. Is exactly the kind of piece they needed in a horrible secondary. At some point, their GM is gonna have to spend on a couple of difference makers instead of a bunch of average roster filler or their endless rebuild will, well, never end.
“they” meaning the Bears…
He’s incredibly overrated. Wouldn’t have made the Bears much better, and as you can see from Washington- they’re not much better if not worse than last year.
It would’ve taken more than Josh Norman to have turned that secondary around, but it’s been a waste of a strong front 7 this season because the Bear’s secondary as a whole, has been so weak. I think Norman would’ve been a good piece, paired with another strong CB or SS. My point was more about Pace signing a lot of middling talent. Had a great draft last spring. Maybe another will enable him to sign some impact talent.
I really hope all these rumors of the 9ers cleaning house are actually true. I hear the family is going to take over control of the team from Jed as well. One can only hope. I can’t wait for the regular season to be over to see what happens.
The 49ers are doomed as long as the Yorks own the team. They have been failures from the get-go. E. g. the last coach they didn’t hire, Mariucci, was not awesome but at least got the team in the playoffs. The Yorks dumped him for their own guy and they crashed to 2-14 two years later. Harbaugh was a fluke, i. e. winner, AND THEY FIRED HIM.
That organization is ran by bonafid IDIOTS. They chased the best coach they’ve had since Mariucci out of town because their egos are highly inflated, and the result of that has been lots of L’s piling up for the franchise. That whole organization needs to be overhauled from ownership-down.
Kinda screws Kelly though since he only had one year and didn’t fully get his system and players implemented.
It all goes back to the decision over Baalke and Harbaugh. Jed chose poorly.
The best and quickest way back to respectability and eventual championship for the 49ers is for new ownership, perhaps Larry Ellison of Oracle. First, the Yorks really aren’t knowledgeable about pro-football, not the way Eddie DeBartolo was. Secondly, Jed York, keeps living in the past 49er championship days. He should take down the 5 Super Bowl championship trophies on display and act like they are trying to win their first.