Deja vu all over again. It's rumor, er, draft time, and that means trade rumors. Anyone notice a similarity between this year's talk about teams interested in Sam Bradford (Cleveland and Washington, mainly) and last year's whispers about the St. Louis Rams being interested in Mark Sanchez?
The Rams really were interested in Sanchez last year, but they also had a plan that called for addressing the crumbling foundation that was the team's offensive line. That didn't stop Devaney or others from using the Sanchez talk to see what kind of trade interest they might get for the second overall pick. Remember the rumor that the Rams bought Sanchez a plane ticket last year to bring their pick to town for an intro? There were even rumors last year that the Redskins and the Jets, who eventually did trade up for Sanchez, made offers to the Rams.
The bottom line here: take everything you hear with a grain of salt. It was pretty clear in the days leading up to the '09 draft that the Rams would take OT Jason Smith, and the Sanchez talk was the typical draft week conjecture. Another lesson to remember: don't get in a poker game with Billy Devaney.