Possible Multiple Trade Down Scenario for the Rams (1 Viewer)

[Bob Magaw]

first of all, i like bradford a lot, and he appears to be highly likely the rams QB of the future...

if they could get a lot from WAS or CLE and still come away with clausen (possibly on the clock deal - like eli & rivers), i won't be crushed. an issue with clausen, imo, is once personality issues have been raised, it is hard to tell if he is just telling scouts what they want to hear... but i agree with some that maybe his fiery on-field demeanor is also characteristic of the highly thought of rivers, and could be a big improvement over wallflower bulger...

if they wanted to get a QB next year, they could conceivably trade down to four (WAS takes bradord) and AGAIN down to seven (CLE gets clausen)... that could give them THREE 1sts in 2011, possibly THREE 2nds (players could be on the table, too - not sure about haynesworth, but maybe player like landry, a top 10 pedigree safety that has underachieved), and maybe even multiple 3rds?

if they are going to wait until next season for QB, they could secure him under probably more favorable financial terms, if a rookie cap is instituted... with bradford and clausen off the board, if they could find ANOTHER partner, they could trade down AGAIN, and maybe take a top interior OL prospect (but wouldn't need to at #7)... the two best have positional versatility (pouncey can play center or guard, iupati can play guard or has the stature, long arms, feet and athleticism to kick out to RT... or LB like weatherspoon... TE like gresham... WR like falling bryant?)...

this will never hapen, but did parcells trade own multiple times in the 1st round of the pace draft (may have taken farrior first, close to top 10?), and added multiple extra picks? what is most a team has traded down in the first?

to reiterate, i like bradford a lot... but if they did get a QB next year (locker, mallett or luck?), even if not an identical grade, but could parlay multiple trade downs into 3-4 or possibly more extra players (from picks or current players), that might be attractive and have merit from some angles...

a few sobering contra-indicators to this, giving cause for pause...

seems like CLE didn't get the greatest ROI for the pick used for sanchez, and wouldn't be in the position they are in now (mabe having to use the 1.7 on clausen, or go with the sketchy looking delhomme/wallace duo), if they had just taken him...

also, when STL traded dickerson, they wasted most/all of those picks... if bradford emerges as a star, obviously in that case it would have been better to just hang on to bradford...

* another potentially fortuitous aspect... the WAS, CLE (or both) 1sts in 2011 could be high (even with mcnabb, NFC East brutal, they appear to be rebuilding, and far from a lock to finish even 8-8, and could yield a top 12-15 pick... CLE could be a bottom 5, or even 3 team, if they start clausen some or most of the year, or delhomme blows up in their face, like he did in fox's... they could be worse than the rams? and the prospective 1st round pick/s could be cheaper, in a possible much different post-rookie cap landscape?

** a more streamlined way to add extra picks would be to deal directly with CLE, who might want to leapfrog WAS for bradford, and would presumably pay more to jump from 1.7 than from 1.4 (and i think they have three 2nd in THIS draft?)...

 

[Black]

That would be NAILS if STL would do it...also fun to watch.

 

[Sinrman]

Yeah don't see it happening. I just don't see Washington going for Bradford or Clausen at this point. McNabb still has a lot of life in him and will be in the NFL for another 5+ years so they don't really need a young QB. So I don't see them trading up or even taking Bradford if he by some miracle dropped to 1.04. I could see them trying to trade down with Cleveland or maybe Buffalo or someone if Bradford were to drop to them.

Cleveland I could possibly see trying to move up to get Bradford if they are THAT enamored with him, but it will be very costly and I'm not sure Holmgren would be willing to cough up what it would take to get him. And I'm not sure they would be willing to move up for Clausen, either. Not sure Holmgren is completely sold on him, and even if he is, I'm sure Clausen will be available at 1.07 unless someone really makes a move to get him (which I feel is also unlikely).

I think the price for 1.01 is still way too high and teams are very unlikely to try and move up that high PLUS pay an insane amount of $$ on a rookie contract.

 

[Crippler]

I just dont see Washington being involved anymore

I would think Cleveland would be a go(1st, 2nd, 3rd and 2nd next year). Than you could trade down with maybe Philly at the 24(24, 2nd, 4th for that)

That would put you in position to take Colt McCoy(or maybe one more deal down) and 3 2nd rounders to play with and the 3 3rds.

I really like this for SL and I dont even mind not taking McCoy and playing for a QB next year. Even though someone brought up once that if the 2011 season was cancelled(Do we think this will happen) that alot of players would stay in school for that extra year and thus the 2011 draft would be kind of weak. I wonder if the NFL has a policy in place how to handle the 2012 than.

 

[Sinrman]

Yeah, I think McCoy has been the darkhorse the entire time. Most pinned him in early-mid 2nd round for months now, and since he checked out OK health-wise awhile back, I think many teams moved him way up their boards and are considering taking him in the late 1st. I can easily see a team like Cleveland or someone else moving up into the late 1st round to take McCoy and skip Bradford and Clausen...

 

[runner06]

I don't remember if it was on sportsline.com or profootballtalk.com, but I read on one of their websites that both the Rams and Browns are believed to have McCoy higher on their board then Jimmy Clausen.

 

[Lott's Fingertip]

A daring move would be to draft Suh with the intent of trading him to Tampa Bay after Detroit picks (or even to Detroit if they covet Suh enough). Risk would be that somebody trades with Detroit to take Bradford, or Detroit takes an OT and Tampa is fine with G.McCoy instead of Suh... Washington may be happy with Bradford at pick 4 then...

Rams probably won't trade down, but it is fun to speculate.

 

[Marvelous]

Trading down is so much fun to talk about, but this year, like most years, teams are not willing to give up much to move up. The Redskins were probably the best trading partner for the Rams, but probably decided to go with McNabb instead because the Rams wanted too much.

 

[KellysHeroes]

With this yr being uncapped, maybe this is the yr we see some movement in the 1st 3 picks. StL and TB are "Cheap" teams, they don't want to pay those fat contracts. I think if a team moves up it will be for Suh.