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BY JIM THOMAS | Posted: Friday, March 30, 2012 4:30 pm | (0) comments.
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football ... z1qdhC1AG2
Even after their blockbuster deal three weeks ago with the Washington Redskins, the Rams may still have another draft trade left in them.
Although it’s unlikely the Rams will trade up to the No. 4 overall spot in the draft, it’s not impossible. Much more likely, however, is a trade down from No. 6 overall to grab additional picks. No matter what, moving out of the No. 6 spot has to be considered one of the team’s draft day options.
"We would move down because we’d expect there to be a number of good players there," coach Jeff Fisher said. "Not because our guy wouldn’t be there (at No. 6). Clearly, we have a number of needs."
Even with the second-rounder they received from Washington this year, and a seventh-round compensatory pick, St. Louis has only eight selections in the draft.
"It’s not like we have a lot of picks this year," Fisher said. "So having a chance to pick up some extra picks would be of interest to us, but again, it has to be the right place at the right time. The players have to be there."
No matter what happens at No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, the Rams are guaranteed to get either the top offensive tackle in the draft (Matt Kalil), the top cornerback (Morris Claiborne), the top wide receiver (Justin Blackmon), or the top running back (Trent Richardson). That’s a lot of incentive to stay put at No. 6.
But if the Rams move out of that spot, Fisher says, "I don’t see it happening until the draft."
General manager Les Snead agrees. If the Rams or anyone trades up to the No. 4 spot held by Cleveland, it would be a different dynamic than the Rams’ quick-developing trade with Washington.
"For Washington to make that trade, they can’t assume that Andrew Luck’s going No. 1," Snead said. "But they had to be happy taking either one of those two players (Luck or Robert Griffin III). And I’m assuming they’re taking a QB, right? But when you start getting into trading up for a No. 4 or No. 5 (overall) that’s a risk."
It’s a risk if you make the trade before you know for sure that the player you covet is there.
"You have to let it unfold," Snead said. "Now, you may work with that team before the draft and say, ‘Will you guys be interested if our player’s at your spot and your player’s not there?’ And then if they say yes, you can work out parameters of a trade before then. That way when the clock’s on, you can make your deal and you don’t have to figure out the semantics, the details of the trade in 15 minutes."
Last season when Snead was with Atlanta, he said trade terms with Cleveland to move up to No. 6 for wide receiver Julio Jones weren’t agreed upon until Thursday morning _ the first day of the draft.
"Now you had to wait for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 to go," Snead said. "And then went Arizona made their pick (at No. 5) and our player was there, we said all right, let’s do the deal."
Given their many needs, and their modest number of draft picks, it seems highly unlikely the Rams would trade back up for Blackmon. But somebody might.
"I think that’s going to be up to the individual club to place the value, and that’s also going to take into consideration need as well," Fisher said. "But I could see somebody doing that."
A more likely scenario would be a team trading into the top 10 _ more precisely the top seven to get ahead of No. 8 Miami _ for Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
"You hear rumors, but that one’s hard to get a sense of," Snead said. "But I think it’s a valid option. You would assume Cleveland was looking for a quarterback. Do they want Tannehill at 4? Or are they going to stick with Colt McCoy and get him playmakers? You just don’t know. And then Miami could be one of those teams (eyeing Tannehill). So yeah, I think there’s a realistic shot that people start thinking can we move up and get Tannehill. I think you could write that and it will probably be about 70 percent accurate."
And that scenario may put the Rams in play at No. 6 in a trade-down scenario, with someone wanting to move up for Tannehill.
"Nowadays the quarterback position’s so important," Snead said. "If you don’t have one, sometimes you have to do what you’ve got to do to go out and get one. They’re hard to find and they’re hard to get."
