St. Louis Rams General Manager Billy Devaney says he hasn’t heard from any other teams that are interested in acquiring the first overall pick in the draft, and he says he doesn’t know if any other team likes Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford enough to put together a package of picks to get him.
“Because they may be [thinking] ... ‘OK, we may like Sam Bradford a lot, but we like Jimmy Clausen just about almost as much,” Devaney told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Why should we give up picks and go up and get St. Louis’ pick?’”
“Why should we give up picks?” is a good question. Another good question is, “Why should we want to pay the $40 million guaranteed or so that the first overall pick will demand this year?”
Until the NFL does something to rein in the contracts given to the players chosen at the top of the first round, it’s going to be tough for the team that owns the first overall pick to trade down. On the other hand, a lot can change in three weeks, and it’s still possible that some team will fall in love with Bradford and decide he’s worth the price.
For now, though, everyone seems to think the Rams are going to take Bradford first overall. Devaney acknowledges that’s the conventional wisdom.
“Obviously, he’s going to get strong consideration,” Devaney said. “That’s not earth-shattering.”