National Football League

Bradford set to be 'King' in St. Louis

Published Mar. 30, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

They are still debating whether one of Sam Bradford’s throws travelled 65 or 70 yards, but the rest of the argument is over. Bradford will be the first pick on April 22 in the prime-time NFL Draft.

The Rams need a quarterback and a leader for the future even if the bonus money will be around $50 million, a number that will surely lead to a rookie salary cap in the next agreement between the owners and the players union.

Everybody who attended Bradford’s scripted throwing exhibition on Monday came away gushing about his accuracy – not one of his 50 passes off target – and his excellent velocity, a genuine surprise considering he’s only been throwing for about a month. His surgically-repaired right shoulder, which he says has not suffered any relapses or given him any pain, figures to get stronger the more he works and throws.

“He showed no ill-effects,” Rams general manager Billy Devaney said. “He threw really good.”

After spending three days around the brightest minds in the NFL during last week’s owners meeting in Orlando, I kept hearing that the three players at the top of this year’s draft are the best trio of sure-fire NFL players since the 1989 draft that produced Troy Aikman, Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas and Deion Sanders. OK, I omitted Tony Mandarich from that draft’s top selections, but the significant point being made was that Bradford and defensive tackles Ndamukung Suh of Nebraska and Gerald McCoy of Oklahoma have can’t-miss greatness stamped on their foreheads.

When I broached this definitive statement with Devaney after the Bradford workout, he didn’t shy away from it. “It’s not just me saying that,” he said. “A lot of people in the league definitely feel that way about these three guys. You can’t go wrong picking any one of them.”

The Rams collectively have one of the league’s worst rosters and any one of those three would provide immediate improvement, but Bradford makes the most sense because when you are paying at the top of the round it makes a lot more sense to be paying quarterback-like money to a quarterback rather than an offensive tackle (which they did last year) or a defensive lineman (which they did two years ago). The bonus money and salaries paid for the top picks are so far out of whack that if every player is really equal in this trio, the logic is too great not to select Bradford. Already, the Rams now have a general idea that Bradford’s contract, based on what Matt Ryan and Matthew Stafford received the past two years, will be about $13 million per year and $50 million guaranteed.

And you guessed it. Tom Condon represents Bradford, the same agent who did the Ryan and Stafford contracts.

I’m not even sure there’s any more work to do on this pick.

The Rams’ brain trust has already visited the former Heisman winner and come away convinced that he’s a high-quality individual. He’s also bulked up to 236 pounds – I saw him chowing down on a good steak dinner at St. Elmo’s in Indianapolis – and everyone is pretty confident he doesn’t have a dogfighting operation on the side or will degenerate into a lazy bones, boorish character like Ryan Leaf. Devaney was a personnel man with the teams that employed both Mike Vick and Leaf, and he’s scared to death of picking a player who could end up like those two.

My only response is that neither the Falcons nor the Chargers really did their homework. Atlanta knew that Vick was a 9-to-5 player who disappeared all the time and they still gave him the money. Bobby Beathard, who made the Leaf pick as the Chargers GM, has admitted that he failed to do a thorough background check into Leaf’s alleged penchant for bar-hopping while at Washington State.

The major reason why the Rams will select Bradford is because they had absolutely no interest in trading for Donovan McNabb and that offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur believes A.J. Feeley, not Marc Bulger, will be the ideal tutor for a rookie quarterback. Feeley knows his role. Yes, Bulger may be good insurance but not with his pricey salary. But if the Rams cut Bulger loose, you can bet a team like Arizona will sign him in a second.

The only way Bradford doesn’t end up with the Rams is if either the Redskins or Browns want to make a trade for him and offer a king’s ransom in compensation. Yes, the Rams have a lot of needs and three or four more picks could fill some of them, but the downside of trading is that they would also miss out on Suh and McCoy, considering the best the Redskins could offer is their own first-round pick (No. 4 overall). There is no question that Bradford will be a hot commodity, but can the Rams really afford to pass?

When asked about such a possibility, Devaney said: “I don’t know what other teams will do or even offer.”

This doesn’t mean that the Rams won’t entertain any offers for the pick, but does it make sense for them to deal with the Redskins, who could offer Jason Campbell and their first-round picks this year, 2011 and something more?

As much as everyone loves Suh and McCoy and their can’t-miss tags, the face of every franchise is the quarterback. The Rams need such a face and every indication says it will be, like Sooner teammate McCoy likes to call him, "King" Sam Bradford.