It's nice when all the smoke around a big trade in the NFL draft turns out to be fire. The Rams, who already made the offseason's biggest move by going from St. Louis to Los Angeles, have trumped that by swinging a trade with the Titans to land the No. 1 overall pick.
It calls to mind St. Louis trading up to No. 1 some years back for the rights to draft Hall of Fame tackle Orlando Pace. Although the Titans had been expected to select tackle Laremy Tunsil with the pick, Los Angeles is likely targeting a quarterback. The story about Cleveland's scouts and decision-makers being split on whether to draft Carson Wentz or Jared Goff is now moot. Only one of those guys is likely to be there when Cleveland picks.
Tennessee drops to No. 15 and gives up a fourth- and sixth-rounder, but gets a pair of 2016 second-round picks, a third-rounder, and the Rams' first- and third-round picks next year. Pretty big haul for a franchise looking to rebuild.
Now the question becomes which quarterback the Rams like more, and if Cleveland will also trade down (the Eagles are rumored to want to move up) if the quarterback they actually want is gone.
The Rams were on the other end of the last wild trade like this, taking a boatload of picks from Washington a few years back in the Robert Griffin III trade. St. Louis is still bad, so that trade didn't work out great for either team. Maybe this one will.
Quick take: win-win trade. The Titans get a bunch of high picks to improve their crummy roster. The Rams get a shot at the franchise quarterback they've lacked since Kurt Warner took them to a pair of Super Bowls. They just better hope they pick the right one.
--Andy Richardson
