Bam. Bam.

In a matter of about four hours Monday afternoon the landscape of the NFC West changed for the 2013 season and beyond.

First, the disgruntled Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin was traded to Seattle (or as some of us call it Vikings Northwest: See Nate Burleson, Sidney Rice, Tavaris Jackson, and their current OC Darrelle Bevell.) for this year’s first round and seventh round picks as well as a mid- round pick in 2014.

Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports writes that Harvin’s vote of no confidence in Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder was one of the factors in requesting the trade. Sam Ponder is on line one for you, Mr. Harvin. I doubt she’d chew you out like Mrs. Brady, so you’re lucky.

Don’t get me wrong Harvin has great on-field upside. He’s only 24 and when not battling migraines and other injuries he’s a very explosive receiver and return guy. But off the field, it’s the team that suffers from headaches stemming from stories of his massive egomania. 

Good luck with that Pete Carroll.

But just as Twitter was just starting to break down and digest the Harvin news Jim Harbaugh ordered up a trade that would surely give Rams defenders a second case of heartburn.

The 49ers received wide receiver Anquan Boldin (Nicknamed simply as “Q”) from his brother John’s team, the Baltimore Ravens, in exchange for a sixth round pick.

Kevin Demoff, Les Snead, Jeff Fisher (Courtesy STLouisRams.com)

But before you ask for the Pepto Bismol think about this. Other than the obvious issue of his advanced age (32 years old) and his $6 million price tag, why wouldn’t other teams make an offer? Actually, one other team did and it was the Minnesota Vikings. They were only willing to surrender a seventh round pick. I see a big red flag there.

Nonetheless, these two moves had many Rams fans in a tizzy. The Seahawks and 49ers had not only taken a run at but had secured two of the most highly talked about receiving weapons during recent weeks.

WWTRD? (What would the Rams do?)

On Monday, March 11, absolutely nothing.

Why make a knee jerk reaction deal because half of the division went cray cray like the women at a Lululemon warehouse sale? Sometimes the best values and the smartest purchases can me made after the mob shopper frenzy. Technically it might be a sale but the draft picks and monies associated with Harvin (2013 first round pick, seventh round pick and a 2014 mid- rounder) and Boldin (6th round pick and $6 million) involve a layaway plan that Kevin Demoff is not willing to offer at this time.

And for that I am relieved.

But take heart, Rams fans. Just because they didn’t secure a free agent away during the pre-sale doesn’t mean they weren’t window shopping. We don’t know exactly what position the Rams front office had in mind but here’s a tweet from Zach McCrite of 101 ESPN:

I’m told #Rams are after a big name and if all sides agree, there “may be a significant deal” by Wednesday. Make of it what you will.

— Big EZ (@BigEZ) March 11, 2013

The official NFL shopping season opens Tuesday, March 12 at 3:00 p.m. CDT. I am counting down the hours like I used to wait for Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale every July.