http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/p...ns-offered-19th-pick-to-rams-for-sam-bradford
Reports: Browns offered 19th pick to Rams for Sam Bradford
March, 17, 2015
MAR 17
4:09
PM ET
By
Pat McManamon | ESPN.com
The
Cleveland Browns made a serious offer to the
St. Louis Rams to acquire quarterback
Sam Bradford, according to two reports.
[+] Enlarge
Tom Gannam/AP ImagesThe Rams sought a quarterback to replace Sam Bradford, which perhaps led them to reject the Browns' offer for him.
The Browns offered the No. 19 pick to St. Louis. The trade was never completed, and Bradford eventually was traded to the
Philadelphia Eagles for
Nick Foles and a second-round draft pick.
News of the trade talks was first reported
on NFL Network by Charley Casserley, although he did not specify the Browns' trading partner. ESPN Insider Adam Caplan confirmed the offer, with the additional detail that it was to the Rams and not the Eagles.
Precise details of the deal or discussions are not known. Although Eagles coach Chip Kelly said after acquiring Bradford that he was offered a first-round pick for him, Rams coach Jeff Fisher also said on PFT Live that he was offered a first-round selection before the trade that the Rams turned down.
Why would the Rams reject an offer for a first-round pick, the Browns' second in the first round, for a quarterback coming off his second ACL surgery?
Because the Eagles wanted a quarterback to replace Bradford. In acquiring Foles, the Eagles got a player they say they wanted.
The Rams had maintained that they did not want to trade Bradford. They insisted at the combine that "deleting him was not the answer." They hired an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach with heavy input from Bradford. The Rams said the only reason they eventually did trade Bradford was because they received a quarterback in return.
"When we said deleting Sam wasn't the answer, that was true," Rams general manager Les Snead said last week. "When coach [Fisher] said that was his QB, that was true because at that moment there was no trade and there was definitely nobody like Nick coming in the building."
The Rams could have made the deal with the Browns and used their pick -- at No. 10 -- and the 19th from Cleveland to move up to acquire
Marcus Mariota in the draft. But they would have done so without certainty that they could acquire the pick they needed to get Mariota.
Had they dealt Bradford and not acquired Mariota, they'd have been in the position the Browns are in now: in need of a quarterback.
The Browns obviously are looking at many options. That they looked into Bradford and at least discussed one of their first-round picks is encouraging.
That it didn't work leaves the team with
Josh McCown and
Johnny Manziel coming out of rehab and an owner who has vowed the team has to fix its quarterback position.
Now the trade decision rests with the Browns as the draft approaches: Is it worth their efforts to trade up if they can select Mariota?
