The St. Louis Rams have fired General Manager Billy Devaney, according to Michael Lombardi of the NFL Network. The news that Devaney has been fired comes moments after the team confirmed that head coach Steve Spagnuolo was fired on Monday morning. Chris Mortensen of ESPN reported last night that both Spagnuolo and Devaney would be fired, a move most have been predicting for some time.
Devaney's tenure as the Rams' lead personnel man brought mixed results. The Rams scored on some draft picks in the upper rounds of the draft, from Sam Bradford to James Laurinaitis and Bradley Fletcher. Their selection of offensive tackle Jason Smith proved to be a big bust, and an expensive one. Free agency has been hit or miss for the Rams. Additions like Quintin Mikell and Harvey Dahl have paid dividends, but other shortcomings, like Jason Brown and the outside linebackers added this year, have not produced the desired results.
Of course, Spagnuolo had tremendous sway over personnel moves as well. Devaney deferred to his coaches on more than draft pick, most notably the decision to select tight end Lance Kendricks in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Spagnuolo had final say over the 53-man roster, which saw the Rams cut many of their promising young players selected in the later rounds of the draft.
Rumors about A.J. Smith as a potential candidate have since come to look a little shaky. Brandon took a look at some potential replacements for the Rams' GM job recently.
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