Hats off the Rams for making a splash in free agency right away by signing C Jason Brown. The team's new leadership wasted no time in making it known that their commitment to rebuilding the team is serious, and more importantly, well-thought out. Brown made it clear in his presser yesterday that he is passionate about winning, kind of a foreign feeling on the team in recent years.

Check this out:

There's the potential to do something special — to discount all you guys. I'm telling you right now, we're going to be better than a .500 team.

...and this:

I see film of Steven and I tell myself _ ’Wow!’ We’ll have a dominating running game.

Swagger, real life swagger. When was the last time you heard any swagger at Rams Park? 

And remember that rumor from Pro Football Talk (where I take everything with a grain or tablespoon of salt) about how he didn't want to be a Ram? Turns out, that report lacked a little accuracy, like I said. Brown wanted to stay with the Ravens, but his mind was never closed to St. Louis. It's all in how you read it.

One final item to point out in regards to the Brown signing. We've maintained 'round these parts that the best thing the Rams have done in a long, long time was to install Billy Devaney as GM and clean house in the front office. The most immediate effect of those change was hiring Steve Spagnuolo as head coach; that put the right kind of leadership in place to turn this franchise around. And I doubt we would have been able to land Jason Brown had those things not happened.

To wit, Brown's agent, Kevin Omell, on the changes at Rams Park:

The Rams are heading in the right direction, they really put the people in place, from Kevin to Billy Devaney and Steve Spagnuolo.

Brown on Spagnuolo:

I can feel the energy and the radiance coming off of him. That's exactly what a brand new team needs in order to overcome all the adversity that we're going to face this year. You have to come in here ready to run through a brick wall.

Brown ought to know. He was part of a Ravens team that went from last place in '07 to the AFC Championship game in '08 with a rookie head coach.

All that starts with Chip Rosenbloom's decision to put fresh, committed leadership at the helm, the first, most important step in rebuilding. Finally.