The NFL trade deadline is next Tuesday, October 18. Between now and then, you will hear any number of NFL trade rumors floating around the internet and talk radio...and very few trades actually happening. The low level, unconfirmed, probably bogus talk about the Denver Broncos shopping wide receiver Brandon Lloyd surfaced again last night.
One of the more notorious rumor pushers on Twitter said that Denver was indeed shopping Brandon Lloyd, for the low, low price of a second-round pick. Suspend for a moment the fact that this is totally unconfirmed, and laugh at the idea of a second round pick being the asking price for Lloyd.
Lloyd is a 30-year-old receiver with one good season under his belt. A second-round pick is a considerable asking price, and continues Denver's trend of asking for the moon for their players, see Kyle Orton.
First of all, I don't believe it. Second, say the asking price came down to a third-round pick and a conditional, I might be more inclined to like a deal that gave Sam Bradford a better receiver to throw to this year. Combine Lloyd with Mark Clayton, and the Rams could have a decent pair of receivers. If Mike Sims-Walker ever gets his act together, all the better. I don't have a problem with trading a third-round pick for a decent player, though with Lloyd in the last year of his deal it might not be worth it. Would you really want to tie up number one receiver money in Lloyd for the next three years? No. Then again, the third round hasn't returned much for the Rams lately.
Buffalo fans seem open to such a deal for Lloyd, but the Bills are 4-1.
Second or third, this is not a deal 0-4 teams make, especially not 0-4 teams with other serious roster holes. Any trades the Rams make now have to be done with an eye on 2012 and beyond.