Twitter has, as one of its unfortunate side-effects, the tendency to amplify NFL rumors into near-sure-things on a moment-by-moment basis. Mario Manningham to the St. Louis Rams is the latest example. For a few hours Friday afternoon it looked like the former New York Giants receiver's move to Sam Bradford's beleaguered stable of Rams receivers was little more than a formality; by the end of the day we had Howard Balzer go from sure-thing to deny-deny-deny. The most optimistic tweet, at that point, came from Tony Softli, who was considerably more reserved:
Rams source confirms Manningham situation is still in begining stages.
— Tony Softli (@SoftliSTL) March 16, 2012
Saturday morning it looks like Mario Manningham still makes a lot of sense with the Rams, and that his visit Friday means both sides are still clearly interested. Beyond that, it's difficult to tell just how far along they really are—only that it's not as far along as we thought a day ago.
More on the Rams' on-again off-again wide receiver relationships, hand-picked from SB Nation St. Louis:
- At the same time, the Rams had (Giants) Steve Smith out for a physical. (Brady Quinn, a potential participant in the backup quarterback derby, threw to him.)
- Of course, the biggest target in the Rams' quest to find a competent wide receiver is still Justin Blackmon.
- But Mario Manningham makes a lot of sense for the Rams—and the Rams for Manningham.