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With all the success the Rams have had in the last four years, it’s no surprise that their coaching staff and front office have been scoured by other teams in search of up-and-coming talents. Sean McVay has lost a number of assistant coaches with more potentially departing this offseason, and now Les Snead is on the verge of seeing one of his most important talent evaluators depart.
That departure could come with draft compensation, however.
The Rams’ director of college scouting, Brad Holmes, has interviewed twice each with the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons for their general manager positions. Given the strong interest from both teams, it seems likely that Holmes will be leaving the Rams after 18 seasons, the last eight of which were in his current role.
Thanks to a new rule approved by the NFL in November, the Rams stand to earn two third-round compensatory picks if Holmes does land a GM job. It’s part of the league’s effort to reward teams for developing minority candidates, giving them a third-round compensatory pick in consecutive years if a coach or executive becomes the head coach or GM of another team.
For the Rams, who are already lacking a first- and fourth-round pick in 2021 due to the Jalen Ramsey trade, this would be very helpful in their roster-building efforts. They would get a third-rounder in 2021 and another third-rounder in 2022, so it’s not as if both would come this year.
But would two mid-round picks really replace the value that Holmes brings? He’s been the director of college scouting for the last eight years and helped identify players such as Aaron Donald, Todd Gurley, Rob Havenstein and John Johnson. Jordan Fuller was another quality pick under Holmes, showing his propensity for identifying Day 3 talents.
Replacing Holmes wouldn’t be easy, but receiving two draft picks in return would at least help the Rams slightly.
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