Rams GM Les Snead thought offseason text from Bobby Wagner seeking employment was a hoax

This offseason, the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams made a big splash when they signed former Seattle Seahawks star Bobby Wagner to a five-year, free agent contract that can pay him as much as $50 million. The thing is, though, the deal almost didn’t happen — because Rams general manager Les Snead wasn’t entirely sure that the text message he got from Wagner was legitimate. 

“I think he signed off as Bwagz,” Snead said, per the Los Angeles Times. “And I’m like, ‘OK, is this real?'”

For his part, Wagner isn’t surprised by that. “Everybody thought it was a fake,” Wagner said.

And for Snead, bringing Wagner into the fold was a long time coming. He missed out on the opportunity to draft Wagner back in 2012, when he entered the NFL Draft out of Utah State University. 

Snead was a rookie general manager in 2012, and the Rams had three second-round draft picks. After using the first two he traded down, believing that Wagner still would be available at No. 50. But the Seahawks drafted Wagner with the 47th pick.

Snead now abides by his so-called “Bobby Wagner Rule,” which ostensibly means if you’re going to lose sleep over not drafting a player, make sure you select him.

Typically, trading down is a strong proposition due to the extra value a team can pick up with multiple selections. Occasionally, though, you miss out on an elite talent — and clearly, Snead regretted doing so. 

Wagner may now be closer to the tail end of his career than the beginning, but he’s still playing at a high level and should be a strong contributor in Raheem Morris’ defense. The Rams prefer to structure their defense to take away the pass, and Wagner has been one of the best pass-coverage linebackers in the league for the majority of his career.