Steve Spagnolo of Rams, Raheem Morris In Tampa Bay. Black Monday and the 2012 NFL Draft

Today is “Black Monday” in league circles. A day in which many coaches (head and assistant coaches alike) learn the cold realization that they are no longer going to be apart (for now) of A N.F.l. football team.

Today as started with Raheem Morris and Steve Spagnolo fired as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and St. Louis Rams head coach respectively. But what impact does this have on the draft.

I think, especially for the Rams the impact could be tremendous. Whoever the Rams hire as the next head coach and General manager have ZERO Loyalty to the players currently on the roster, which means underperforming respected veterans, or young players that haven’t quite reached their potential are on their way.

Also with a clean slate it means that the period of transition begins and players who won’t fit the systems (perhaps a team looks to go to the 34) are also long gone.

The biggest question for the Rams will be, what do they do with Sam Bradford. It is no secret that Bradford had a down year and now the two man responsible for bringing him to St. Louis are no longer with the organization. With the Rams picking second it suddenly becomes conceivable (but probably not likely) that the Rams could look at Robert Griffin III as the future and try to jettison Sam Bradford, which won’t be easy because Bradford was on the archaic system where high picked rookie QB got paid more than  some top veteran quarterbacks. But it as at least possible.

And again look at the G.M.’s that teams bring in and coaches. Moving away from Spags might feel good today for Rams fans, but how good will it feel if they hire a 34 coach? The Rams have very few players who fit the 34 well and will need at least two years to get the players right for their system.

Same thing with the Buccaneers. And now, what about Josh Freeman? Does the new coach think he can win with Josh Freeman?

Other coaches could soon be on their way out. Most likely Norv Turner in San Diego, but don’t rule out Jim Caldwell in Indianapolis (who has not done a good job even before this season in my humble opinion). And very outside, long shot possibilities like Buffalo, Minnesota, Dallas, and Washington.
Remember fans if your team fired their head coach today, it’s not always a cause for celebration. As the Browns found out this year sometimes you have to take two steps back to take one forward because of all the personnel and schematic turnovers these firings cause.

And listen very carefully to how whoever takes over in St. Louis or Tampa describes the QB situation. Things could get really interesting fast.