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Bradford’s not on the trade block
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_194aaa99-6901-5112-8e29-68402022702f.html
INDIANAPOLIS • To be clear, Sam Bradford isn’t demanding a trade. And the Rams aren’t interested in trading Bradford.
So a tweet by CBSSports on Wednesday afternoon stating that the Rams had given Bradford permission to seek a trade was at least a little off the mark.
General manager Les Snead emphatically denied that the Rams are shopping Bradford, and was genuinely surprised when asked about it Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine.
“Deleting him (from the roster) is not our answer,” Snead said. “I don’t know that that solves our riddle.”
Snead continued his answer, but first by taking a playfully sarcastic tone to the questioner.
“That’s breaking news is what this is — you know what I mean?” he continued. “Do you want to trade for Sam? Do you have a deal?”
And then he returned to reality.
“He’s a good player,” Snead said. “If some team was interested, I certainly don’t blame them. But I’ll stick to what I said earlier — deleting him is not the answer.”
What the Rams have told Bradford agent Tom Condon during the course of negotiations is that if he wants to check around and see if there is a market for Bradford, go ahead.
Since executive vice president Kevin Demoff joined the Rams in 2009, he frequently has told agents of prospective free agents if they want to see what other teams are willing to pay for their client, feel free.
It’s a negotiating technique, and it’s a way of helping to set the market for a player.
That’s a long way from seeking a trade.
The only difference here is that Bradford is under contract for the 2015 season — due to make $12.985 million in base salary and count $16.58 million against the salary cap.
The Rams would like to lower that cap number by reducing Bradford’s base salary, perhaps working in incentives to give Bradford the opportunity to get back most or all of the $12.985 million if he stays healthy, reaches certain statistical plateaus or is part of specified team achievements.
It’s clear at this point that the sides are stalemated.
The Rams want a salary reduction; Condon doesn’t.
Condon declined comment Wednesday. Demoff’s only public comment was: “We’ve had good discussions with (Bradford’s) group.”
Condon and Demoff are in Indianapolis for the Combine. They have no formal meetings scheduled here, but are expected to talk on the phone.
The Rams are only about a million dollars below the current salary cap projection of about $143 million per team, obviously not nearly enough space to sign their draft picks, re-sign some of their own free agents, and have money to sign an outside free agent or two.
But they have plenty of ways to create cap space. Defensive end Kendall Langford, offensive tackle Jake Long, center Scott Wells, wide receiver Chris Givens, and running back Isaiah Pead all could be subject to pay cuts or outright release to free up millions in cap space.
In addition, the Rams could create as much as $8 million in additional cap space simply by converting defensive end Robert Quinn’s $10.233 million roster bonus into signing bonus.
Even so, without some kind of reduction of Bradford’s base salary, it makes the desired offseason moves more difficult cap-wise.
It’s still early in the negotiating process, but if the stalemate continues through the start of free agency March 10 and on through the draft April 30-May 2, perhaps a trade is possible if the Rams can come up with an alternative to Bradford.
But that’s a doomsday scenario at this point.
At the moment the Rams are almost boxed into keeping Bradford for 2015. For one, he is the team’s only quarterback under contract. Shaun Hill is scheduled for unrestricted free agency in March, while Austin Davis is scheduled for restricted free agency.
All indications are that Bradford wants to stay in St. Louis. And last Friday, coach Jeff Fisher and newly-named offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti made it very clear that a healthy Bradford figured heavily into their plans for 2015. Snead echoed those thoughts Wednesday.
Snead conceded that Bradford’s injury history, including back-to-back ACL knee injuries in 2013 and 2014, was a red flag.
“It’s flying high,” he said. “It’s definitely a red flag.”
But he reiterated: “Let’s don’t delete him. I don’t think that’s the answer. I think the answer is providing insurance in case we do go through more bad luck. Let’s rehab (Bradford), let’s see if he can reach his potential, but let’s do insure the position.”
Whether you call it having “competition” or “options” or “insurance” the Rams need another quarterback on the roster who can do more than walk and chew gum at the same time.
Easier said than done in the NFL, particularly in a year where there’s a thin draft class and an unappealing group of unrestricted free agents.
“Quarterbacks are hard to find, aren’t they?” Snead asked. “You have to turn over every stone.”
Trouble is, there aren’t many stones this year.
“There’s stones out there, but when you turn them over, there’s nothing under them,” Snead said, joking. “People don’t want to give you really good QBs, so a lot of times you’ve got to go find them.”
Keeping in mind that Bradford’s second ACL tear happened two months earlier than his first — meaning he has more time to rehab — Snead said there is no timeline for Bradford’s return.
