Stan Speaks

Controlling owner Stan Kroenke is, by nature, a very private man. He’s not the kind of guy who is going to be in the headlines every week. That means, when he does speak, it’s fairly newsworthy even if he doesn’t have much to say. Kroenke spoke to the media at the NFL owners meetings on Monday, and he did shed some light on some issues going on with the organization. If you want to see everything he had to say, check out the article at stltoday.com.

Kroenke didn’t have much to say when it came to the labor issue, and he pretty much sided with the owners (obviously) when he did address it. He said he won’t be making any moves with the front office until the issue is resolved, and he also said he hasn’t started discussions with St. Louis officials about the stadium lease. I’m not too concerned about that issue just yet, but I’ll feel much better once the two sides do get some dialogue going.

Kroenke was most talkative about how he plans to build the Rams into a contender. According to his philosophy, he believes in building through the draft and development, but he also said that he believes in pulling the trigger in free agency if the player can be a true difference-maker. He said he will listen to his coaching staff and scouts in those situations, but he won’t hesitate to write the check when those situations arise.

As far as my take on the interview, I thought he was honest and straightforward with his answers. I have no problem with building this team through the draft, and I think we are well on our way to doing that already. If anyone thought he was going to come in here and buy a bunch of high-priced free agents, you were wrong. As long as he follows through with this strategy, I think we should be in good shape for years to come.