St. Louis Rams general manager Les Snead says it’s Sam Bradford as quarterback for 2014 and beyond. Unfortunately, the Rams have yet to crack the .500 barrier or qualify for the playoffs under Snead. And the offense still hasn’t yet taken off. Remember when the Rams went from pass-happy to ground-and-pound? Sam Bradford became a game manager. The Rams started having some success.
So it’s only natural to feel a little bit of disappointment. This quarterback was chosen number one overall in 2010. He was AP Offensive Rookie Of The Year and a Carl Rosenbloom Award winner in 2010 and had the Rams within one win of making the playoffs. We were ready to see Bradford evolve into one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL. It still hasn’t happened yet.
I know Bradford was one of the last rookies to receive that huge sum of money for being a top draft pick under the old collective bargaining contract. And there is good news that he has started light running again. However, there is nothing light about his contract. He is due to collect $17.6 million this year and $16.5 million in 2015, according to Spotrac.
Snead said the Rams are willing to listen to offers for the number two pick in the 2014 NFL draft. There are plenty of names out there, and none of us knows what any of these great athletes will be able to do. Snead pretty much dismissed the idea the Rams will be drafting a quarterback early in the draft. I hope it works out for all parties, because Snead is putting his reputation on the line with an already apathetic fan base.
Snead must be quite a gambler, considering some of the things that occurred to Bradford prior to Snead’s arrival. The injury list for Bradford is short, but every injury has cost him some significant playing time. In 2009 while playing for the Oklahoma Sooners, he had a shoulder injury and missed the rest of that season. In 2011 he had a high ankle sprain and only played six games. By the end of the 2012 season, he had been sacked a number of 105 times and was hit more time than that. In November 2013 he tore his ACL and is now on the road to recovery.
But what will he recover to be? Is it as a highly priced game manager? Or a franchise quarterback? I’m telling you now, 7-9 is not going to cut it.
For more Rams Roundup please subscribe to our page www.stlamerican/youtube videos.
