Chris Mortensen of ESPN reported Sunday morning that Baylor quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III will declare for the 2012 NFL Draft, ahead of the Jan. 15 deadline. Griffin will be one of the most desirable picks in the draft, right behind Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. Griffin in the draft this year impacts the St. Louis Rams, who will wind up with either the first or second pick, in a very positive way.
Let me stop right there. The Rams WILL NOT be drafting a quarterback and trading Bradford. As we've said before, it's cost prohibitive because the Rams would owe him a ton of money. It's also foolish. Bradford has the tools to be a very good NFL quarterback, current slump aside, and still has a bright future in the league.
Other teams that do need a quarterback will covet RG3. The possibility of teams trading up for Andrew Luck has been thoroughly discussed, but that's only a possibility if the Rams get the first pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. If the Colts lose today, the Rams will have the second pick. With Robert Griffin III in the draft, that second pick could also fetch some trade value from teams seeking a very nice consolation prize in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.
Of course, the thing to remember here is that it's only a possibility. There's no guarantee that teams would trade for the second spot in the draft to pick RG3. They could probably do that with the third spot. It's still a possibility worth mentioning.
Be sure to hit us up on the Twitter machines @TurfShowTimes for even more draft talk as April gets closer and closer.