Clayton: Rams among teams still interested in CB Sheppard

[Nick]

From John Clayton's ESPN blog:

Sheppard sweepstakes: Three teams are showing interest in Eagles cornerback Lito Sheppard. The price could come down to a No. 2 pick. The Rams are one of the interested teams, but the Eagles won't deal Sheppard unless they get satisfactory value. Talks were expected to pick up this week and they have.

[Mooselini]

If its for the #2 pick of the draft, they can forget about it.

[Nick]

I assume it meant second round pick.

[laram0]

I wouldn't give up our 2nd round pick for Sheppard.

[RamOfDenmark]

I wouldn't give up our *very high* 2nd rounder for Sheppard.

They can have our 3rd, not the 2nd rounder.

Besides Brown isn't suspended anyway - so we're not under as much pressure to get another CB on our roster as before. We shouldn't get desperate and deal away our 2nd rounder,

[Ramer]

I wouldn't give up more than a 4th.

[RamOfDenmark]

I wouldn't give up more than a 4th.

He's a two times Pro Bowl (and two times All-Pro) CB who only just turned 27 a few weeks ago. He could play at the highest level for 5 or 6 seasons for us.

He also has a knack for coming up with interceptions - 17 of them in 58 starts returning 3 for TD's.

I think a pretty good case could be made for dealing a 3rd rounder for him. I find it fairly unlikely you'd get more value than that out of your average 3rd round pick.

Rant time (btw. this isn't directed at you it's a general opinion)

It's easy to overvalue draft picks based on high hopes and dreams - what if we select the next Joe Montana (selected in the third round) etc.

I think people in general should put a little more value on veterans and on getting someone we know can play, and someone who can play right now as opposed to someone who may or may not develop into the greatest thing since sliced bread in 3 years.

Most of us have high expectations for all our top draft picks every year - but how often do we see them fizzle out and never live up to their potential? Sure that can happen to free agents that switch teams too - but they are still much more of a known commodity than rolling the dice on a draft pick.

Sometimes it would be great to get a player on board that can start from day one, instead of someone we have to develop and hope it works out. Too often we've let players just entering their primes (25, 26, 27 years old) walk away only to see them play great football elsewhere for the next 5 years at the peak of their careers while we try to develop some youngster with a cheaper contract that never quite works out.

Rant over.

If they can't find someone to give them a 2nd rounder (and I doubt they will) I would be happy giving up our 3rd to get him.

[rammiser]

If our second pick wasnt 33 I might consider trading for him. I would rather offer our third rounder instead. Or maybe a 4th this year and a 3rd next year. This year the 33rd pick is the first pick in the second round because of New England losing their pick it's too high to give away. I would be ok with our 3rd but are we still that desperate for a corner now? Without a pass rush they dont look very good but if we can get a pass rush and cut down the time they have to chase wr's around they will improve.

[serkicker32]

I would trade our seconds and throw in our fourth

[RamFan_Til_I_Die]

After we trade our #2 pick away we'll have 2 2nd rounders anyway. We need to pull the trigger on this deal.

[mde8352gorams]

I wouldn't trade anything for him. Every team knows the Eagles have to unload him, so they may just cut him and then it's up to the waiver wire. Plus he has a history of injuries. We have young players who can be mentored by F. brown, who is clear to play from opening day.

I would rather spend our picks on young players that we groom for the future or free agency

This has limited appeal to me, unless he comes with the Eagles opening day gameplan

OK, enough with the jokes....I would take a pass here

Go Rams!:r

[Warner4prez]

Fakhir mentoring young players? Is that like Mike Vick teaching how to raise puppies?

[r8rh8rmike]

The Eagles went out and got Asante Samuel for a reason. Sheppard has been whining about his current contract and has a problem staying on the field. If Brown was going to be suspended, I'd see some urgency in trying to get Sheppard, but he's not and I don't.

[mde8352gorams]

Fakhir mentoring young players? Is that like Mike Vick teaching how to raise puppies?

I agree there is a certain irony here, but like it or not Fakhir is our most experienced CB, so he either helps the younger players along or we bench him and let the young players fend for themselves or we overpay another experienced cornerback, who get injured easily.

Not a pretty picture if you ask me.

Go Rams!:r

[shower beers]

We can think about it in this way:

our last few third round draft picks have been...

Wade
Wroten
Alston
Byrd
Atogwe
Incognito


now would you trade your third round pick or keep it, knowing this is our third round draft history in the past three years?