NFL Trade Machine: Sam Bradford To Cleveland

Few teams seem as desperate to find a solution at quarterback as the Cleveland Browns.  In a perfect world they would love to do so without surrendering either of their two 1^st round picks.  With free agency thin on help and neither of the top two quarterbacks in Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota likely to fall out of the top 10, the best avenue open to them is via the NFL trade market.

A name that surfaced recently is Sam Bradford.

One can understand.  The 27-year old has starting experience and considerable talent that helped make him a #1 pick in 2010.  However, an unfortunate run of bad luck from coaching changes to back-to-back ACL injuries has left him in limbo with the St. Louis Rams.

Initial word was the team was interested in bringing him back provided they could work something out on his hefty $16.58 million cap number.

Then again, there have been rumblings that Bradford’s camp has requested permission to explore trade options.  It isn’t clear whether he wants to be traded or not but the underlying feeling is he’d either like to stay in St. Louis or be released and choose his own team. Here’s a quote via the link above:

"“However, (Jason) Cole doesn’t think Bradford would have any interest in being traded. Instead, Bradford would likely ask to be released outright so he can sign with a team of his choosing or try to work out an extension with the Rams.”"

This essentially means it will be tough for the Cleveland Browns to convince Sam Bradford a trade is a good idea both for him and them.  They have more than enough cap space to handle his current salary figure and the draft picks to make a run at putting some serious weaponry around him.

In all honesty, if they were looking for a way to avoid jumping into the top 10 for another rookie, this may be their best bet.