Rams Thought Message From Free Agent Bobby Wagner Was Hoax
The linebacker reached out to Los Angeles in the offseason expressing interest in signing there.
Bobby Wagner surprised the NFL world by signing with the Rams in the offseason. After the Seahawks released him, Wagner, who represented himself in free agency, was the one to express his interest in coming to Los Angeles.
Wagner texted Rams general manager Les Snead to reach out and began exploring the possibility of joining the Rams, as he did with many general managers in the league. The problem was, initially, no one on the Rams thought the text message was real.
“Everybody thought it was a fake,” Wagner said, via The Los Angeles Times’ Gary Klein.
Snead confirmed how confused he was at first.
“I think he signed off as Bwagz, and I’m like, ‘OK, is this real?’” Snead said.
When the Rams lost out on the Von Miller sweepstakes to the Bills, that opened up the money to sign Wagner to a five-year, $50 million deal. Wagner became the latest big name star to join the Rams over the past few years, and maybe the most surprising considering his career history and age.
Wagner spent 10 years with the Rams’ division rival Seahawks, which included eight Pro Bowl selections, six first-team All Pro selections and a Super Bowl victory. Now that Seattle is entering a bit of a rebuild, they moved on from many franchise pillars, including Wagner and Russell Wilson.
On Thursday night, Wagner began his Rams career on a personal high, recording seven tackles and a sack vs. Buffalo. If he can continue that pace, Los Angeles will be happy the text message was legit.
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For more Los Angeles Rams coverage, go to Ram Digest.