Fred Smith & the Rams: interested buyer or bargaining chip?

Yesterday, the name Fred Smith, FedEx founder and CEO, floated to the surface as a potential buyer for the Rams, but there's something in this story worth pointing out. Smith has yet to actually throw his hat in the ring and state publicly that he's interested in owning Chip Rosenbloom and his sister's share of the Rams. Others have brought Smith's name to the fore in the Rams-for-sale saga.

Note what St. Louis Convention and Visitors Bureau Chairman Dan Dierdorf told the PD:

I do not know of any conversations that have taken place between Fred Smith and the Rams.

Of course, there's always the "where there's smoke" idea, but this is also probably more about getting another interested buyer into the fold and making the offers more competitive for Rosenbloom. It's entirely plausible that both things are at play here, which is to say that Smith does have some interest in purchasing a share of the Rams as well as other parties using his known interest in NFL football and obvious wealth to drive the auction a little bit. Kroenke, for now, is the one to watch in all of this.

Ah, corporate intrigue.