St Louis Rams: Monday's Rams News and Notes at Noon - Bleacher Report

Welcome to Monday's St. Louis Rams "News and Notes at Noon," the one stop destination for all major Rams headlines and other information of interest for Rams Nation. 

Breaking the Ice With Rams Rookie Cornerback Trumaine Johnson 

Patty Hsieh of aeryssports.com recently posted a piece for 101sports.com after catching up with Rams rookie cornerback Trumaine Johnson. 

The article was certainly worth a read and the background information shared was interesting. Among other things, Johnson shared the following:

I’ve got about fifteen tattoos.  The left one (on his left forearm) reads pray about everything, worry about nothing.  (The right side reads) Never forget where you come from.

I’m from Stockton, California. No matter where I go, I always look at this and it reminds me to just always stay humble. I came from humble beginnings so I might as well keep it humble.

At 6'2", the third round selection brings great size and good instincts to the cornerback position. Although some have suggested a potential move to safety at some point, head coach Jeff Fisher has been clear that the plan is to keep Johnson at corner, at least for now. 

Chris Givens
Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

Adam Caplan Grades Rams Draft 

Adam Caplan of thesidelineview.com recently graded the St. Louis draft, as you can read in full here. Caplan took time to review and analyze each Rams' draft pick and also shared an overall grade for the entirety of the draft.  

Among other things, Caplan seemed to particularly like the Michael Brockers, Janoris Jenkins and Chris Givens picks.  

Personally, my favorite pick of the entire Rams draft, especially when considering the value of where he was taken, was the selection of wide receiver Chris Givens in round four.  Givens possesses not only elite speed, but terrific route running capabilities. 

More Clarification on Rams, CVC Lease Negotiations 

Over the weekend, Matthew Hathaway of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch further clarified various details regarding the ongoing negotiations between the St. Louis Rams and the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission in this piece. 

The Rams and CVC are expected to negotiate until June 15, however, it would seem like an extreme longshot that a deal could be struck within the next week and a half and all indications point to this heading to the next phase, the arbitration period. 

The most revealing part of the aforementioned Hathaway piece was the fact that if the Rams and CVC indeed go to arbitration on June 15 (which is fully expected), both parties will plead their respective cases to not one, but three arbitrators.  

Edward Jones Dome (via blog.travelpod.com)

If the Rams and CVC cannot agree on selecting the three arbitrators, each party will alternate in striking names from a list of 13 individuals selected by the American Arbitration Association.  

Of those 13 names, at least seven on that list would be required to be retired judges who are non-residents of the state of Missouri or California. 

The aforementioned Hathaway piece also states that, at the end of the process, the arbitrator's will have three distinct choices.

They will either endorse the CVC's initial proposal from February 1, the Rams counteroffer from May 1, or more likely, will put together a new or revised plan that the arbitrators feel will meet the first tier standards related to the lease regarding 15 specific categories. 

Whatever decision the arbitrators make (if this does in fact go to arbitration), the CVC will have 60 days to respond by either accepting or rejecting the arbitrator's ruling. If they accept, the decision is binding for the Rams.  

CVC Rejection of Rams Counteroffer a Matter of Course

Mike Sando stated the obvious to anyone who has followed the process closely by asserting in this piece for ESPN that the St. Louis CVC's rejection of the Rams counteroffer was a matter of course, a fully expected aspect of the lease negotiations process. 

Simply put, the CVC started with a low offer, and it was rejected. The Rams came in with a high one and it, too, was rejected. 

St Louis Convention and Visitors Comission Logo (explorestlouis.com)

Now, the preliminaries are out of the way and the negotiations can and have begun. 

Sando suggests, via the above-linked column, that the process could take awhile.  It would not be surprising if that is the case. 

At the very least, the process will likely last through the end of 2012.  

If an agreement is not reached after an expected period of arbitration, the Rams can then continue talking with the CVC, could talk with Fenton, Missouri (who recently threw their hat in the ring) or could talk with any city to negotiate a possible stadium deal. 

If no deal is struck by the end of the 2014 season, the Rams could remain in the Edward Jones Dome on a year-to-year lease, leave the Edward Jones Dome for another site in the city or region or move to a new location outside of the region, perhaps across the river to Illinois or anywhere else on planet Earth, for that matter. 

Reasons Chris Long and Robert Quinn Could Have Big Seasons 

Finally, I shared a new article analyzing the Rams' defense, and specifically, why defensive ends Chris Long and Robert Quinn could have massive seasons for St. Louis. 

Please click here to read this piece and to vote on how many total sacks you expect the duo of Long and Quinn to amass in 2012.  Expectations have been quite high thus far, something certainly good to see from Rams fans.  

Have a great day as always, STL Rams Nation.

Shane Gray covers the St. Louis Rams daily as a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You are encouraged to check out the rest of his work here. Gray also owns and operates stlramscentral.com.