Rams and Bills were in negotiations for OJ to be a Ram. I n1976, a couple of times, in the Sinner then again in August.
Rams didn't want to give up Jack Youngblood were not offering enough, Bills wanted top players and Rams offering
some guys that were not up to what Ralph Wilson wanted.
Yup. Ralph Wilson really wanted Jack Youngblood in the deal. Kinda wanted McCutcheon too, and other player names were thrown around.
https://nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com/2022/09/oj-simpson-for-jack-youngblood.html
and another story here:
https://www.nytimes.com/1976/08/08/archives/whats-with-oj-pete.html
At the Olympics in Montreal as broadcaster for the ABC television network, O.J. Simpson kept complaining about the standstill in the negotiations. He sounded as if his heart was already with the Rams.
“It's getting late,” O.J. said. “We've got a lot of new linemen I've got to work with.”
O.J. was using “we” as a reference to the Rams, but the Rams have not been able to satisfy Ralph Wilson's demands. Not long after O.J. announced that he would not return to Buffalo this season the Rams offered the Bills what the San Francisco 49ers surrendered to the New England Patriots for Jim Plunkett earlier this year—two No. 1 draft choices, two No. 2 draft choices and a lesser player. Ralph Wilson declined. He wanted quality players, particularly Jack Youngblood, the all-N.F.L. defensive end, and Lawrence McCutcheon, who ran for 911 yards last season.
The Rams would not discuss Jack Youngblood, but McCutcheon was available. The Rams also offered a middle linebacker, either Jack Reynolds or Jim Youngblood, and a defensive lineman, either Mike Fanning or Cody Jones, as well as Jack Snow, a 33‐year‐old wide receiver, and Steve Preece, a defensive back. Wilson still was not satisfied. Negotiations collapsed.
“I really thought that the Rams’ offer would put the Bills in the playoffs,”
O.J. said, “but Mr. Wilson didn't think so. At least three of those players would walk in and start on the Bills, and two of them would start on any team in football. It's too bad it didn't go through because if the Bills and the Rams each made it to the Super Bowl, that would be the dream—both of us in the Super Bowl because of the trade.”
Ralph Wilson also talked vaguely of the Rams adding some money to the deal.
“If he wants $1 million,” says Carroll Rosenbloom, “I'll give him $1 million.”
Financially, the Rams can afford O.J.'s expensive salary. They averaged 62,000 customers last season in their huge Coliseum but they still averaged nearly 30,000 empty seats that O.J. would fill. Even with no seats to sell in their sold‐out Oakland Coliseum, the Raiders also have pursued O.J. as the catalyst in their obsession with winning the Super Bowl game. But the Raiders believe in the pass more than the run. O.J. dislikes their offense.
“Then we'll change it,” said John Madden, the Raiders’ coach.
The Lamonica Deal
Madden talks to Lou Saban, the Bills’ coach. Saban submitted a list of eight Raiders, saying he would accept any three plus two draft choices. But then Ralph Wilson upstaged Saban's authority. Ralph also remembers how Al Davis, the Raiders’ clever owner, had fleeced him in a trade for Daryle Lamonica decade ago. Ralph Wilson wasn't about to get stung again.
“Ralph doesn't seem to want Oakland to have 0.3.,” Al Davis says.
If a trade does not materialize, Ralph Wilson will lose O.J. to retirement and get no players in return. That is grounds for impeachment by the Bills fans. There seems to be no chance of O.J. returning to the Bills unless his wife, Marguerite, will agree to accompany him to Buffalo this season. She stayed in Los Angeles with their two school‐age children last season, a situation which jeopardized their marriage. She's been insistent on remaining in Los Angeles again.
“We want to keep the kids in one school the whole year,” O.J. says. “But with them there and me in Buffalo, wasn't conducive to a lasting marriage. My wife and I talked it out. She never said if I returned to Buffalo this year, that's it, but she wants me in Los Angeles with her and the kids.”
It's typical of O.J. to put his marriage ahead of his career. Not everybody does.
“But,” says Al Davis, “Whose marriage isn't in trouble who's involved in football?’
Whatever, the important thing is to settle the O.J. situation. As he asks: “Am I not going to play football this season because the deal didn't go through?” Your move, commissioner.
O.J. Simpson: “Too bad it didn't go through ...”