St. Louis, MO (My Sportsbook) - The St. Louis Rams announced Wednesday that executive vice president of player personnel Billy Devaney has been promoted to general manager.

Devaney replaces Jay Zygmunt, who stepped down as president of football operations and general manager on Monday, ending his 27-season tenure with the franchise.

"I am very grateful to Rams ownership for giving me this opportunity to help return the team to an elite position in the National Football League," Devaney said. "This is an organization that has historically had a winning tradition and it is our goal to get back to that level."

Devaney, who has 23 years of NFL scouting experience, will be responsible for all player personnel decisions, including the college draft, acquisition of free agents, player trades and other personnel transactions. He will also spearhead the search for a new Rams head coach.

"One of the best things that happened to the Rams during this difficult season was the hiring of Billy Devaney to our front office team," said Rams owner and chairman Chip Rosenbloom. "We are very fortunate to have someone with Billy's character and intelligence taking control of the football side of this organization."

The club also announced that John Shaw will relinquish his duties as team president but will be retained as a senior advisor. In his new role, Shaw will advise and consult with ownership and represent the club on virtually all league matters as well as other affairs significant to the team.

"I've been blessed to have worked for one of the great NFL franchises the last 29 years and had the good fortune of working with two terrific owners, Georgia Frontiere and Stan Kroenke," said Shaw. "I look forward to continuing my working relationship with Stan and welcome the opportunity to work with Chip (Rosenbloom) and Lucia (Rodriguez), both of whom I greatly respect and admire."

After finishing 3-13 in 2007, the Rams are enduring another disappointing season, this time with a 2-13 record and one game left against the Falcons in Atlanta.

Scott Linehan was relieved of his head coaching duties after an 0-4 start, and interim coach Jim Haslett won his first two games at the helm before losing nine in a row, the longest losing streak for the franchise since dropping the final 10 games of the 1991 season and the opener of the '92 campaign when the team was known as the Los Angeles Rams.