New York Jets may poach LA Rams draft guru for their open GM position

The LA Rams coaching staff may be secure for the time being, but the same cannot be said for the team's front office. You see, since Day 3 of the 2022 NFL Draft, the front office has had incredible success at selecting players in the draft. Unfortunately, at least one other NFL team had sat up and taken notice.

And the New York Jets have requested the opportunity to interview Rams Senior Personnel Executive Ray Farmer for their open GM position. If he is anything like predecessor Bradley Holmes, who was hired as the Detroit Lions GM after the 2020 NFL season, then he could become the Jets next GM:

So what should we know about Ray Farmer's tenure with the Rams?

The first stop for interested parties has to be the Rams official website, and Ram Farmer's bio. There you will learn that Farmer holds vast NFL personnel executive experience, including four years as a scout for the Atlanta Falcons, director of pro personnel with the Kansas City Chiefs, three seasons with the Cleveland Browns, including two years as the Browns GM. He joined the Rams as a scouting consultant in 2020 before serving as the team's Senior Personnel Executive from 2021-2024.

But if you want to understand his trademark, you have to dive a bit deeper. After all, he earned a reputation for being a draft savant long ago. In fact, he was given the nickname of 'Trader Ray," by his peers and colleagues. And with the ever-improving success of the LA Rams in recent draft classes, I don't think you are wrong in connecting the dots.

Ray Farmer elevates the draft process of any NFL team he works for, and with. The question is, will that be enough to earn him a shot at another GM position for an NFL team? Perhaps not, but that is not all that he has been up to of late.

It was clear that Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes was ready for the role thanks to the management style of LA Rams GM Les Snead. Snead not only overseas the Rams roster, free agency, and draft, but he makes it a point to aid directors and executives in expanding their working knowledge of running an NFL team, with the aim of developing them to be the best candidates for future NFL GM opportunities.

For Ray Farmer, that opportunity just appeared with the New York Jets.

Much like Atlanta Falcons HC Raheem Morris attributed his time with the Rams football organization and working closely with HC Sean McVay for exposing him to new and better ways of working with scouts and the front office, so too has Ray Farmer worked closely with GM Les Snead and learned new strategies and techniques for building an NFL Championship roster.

While it's early in the process, I have to believe that Ray Farmer will present a very persuasive set of interviews for the Jets open GM position.

While the loss of Ray Farmer to the Jets would dilute the Rams' front office talent, there is the incentivized bonus of the Rams receiving two compensatory Round 3 draft picks as a positive outcome. That is due to the NFL's revised Rooney Rule.

"In November 2020, team owners approved a proposal rewarding teams who developed minority talent that went on to become GMs or head coaches across the league. If a team lost a minority executive or coach to another team, that team would receive a third-round compensatory pick for two years. If a team lost both a coach and personnel member, it would receive a third-round compensatory pick for three years"

Per The NFL Rooney Rule

If hired by the Jets, the Rams would be awarded a Round 3 compensatory draft pick in both the 2025 and 2026 NFL Drafts, respectively.

Trader Ray may be on his way to another GM role in the NFL. While the LA Rams will certainly miss him, two Round 3 draft picks are worthwhile compensation. At least, they are as long as the Rams can continue their success at drafting so well.

As always, thanks for reading.

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