No Bradford deal yet despite offer between $72-$80 million

[Nick]

No Bradford deal yet despite offer between $72-$80 million
BY JIM THOMAS | Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010 3:04 pm

Contrary to speculative reports, the St. Louis Rams have not reached an agreement with No. 1 overall draft pick Sam Bradford.

And contrary to more speculation, Bradford will not be in attendance at tonight's full-squad meeting -- the first full-squad gathering of this training camp. This according to two sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations.

In fact, Bradford cannot attend any team functions, be it a team meeting or practice, until he has signed a contract.

According to one of the sources, the Rams have offered Bradford the richest rookie contract in NFL history. It's one that exceeds the six-year, $72 million deal signed by the 2009 No. 1 draft pick -- quarterback Matthew Stafford -- but falls short of the $80 million plateau.

Both sides continue to work on a deal. The Rams are trying to get Bradford on the field in time for Saturday's 3 p.m. practice _ the first full-squad practice of camp. The Rams concluded their prelude to camp on Friday with the third practice in two days involving 37 rookies and selected veterans.

[TekeRam]

Come on Sam, if the numbers have been agreed upon, it's pretty much down to semantics. While it's true that you won't be missing any reps until tomorrow at 3, it's still to your benefit not to miss anything more, whether it's a meeting, or practice, or a rookie hazing ordeal. Tell your agent to get over the semantics and just get your overly inflated paycheck.

[PeoriaRam]

Hold the line Demoff! Bradford can only have the yellow M&Ms removed from his bowl, not the yellow and the blue.

[general counsel]

The size of the contract has no relevance. The only thing that counts is the guaranteed dollars, and no one is reporting the bid ask on those numbers.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

[sjacksonrules]

Hold the line Demoff! Bradford can only have the yellow M&Ms removed from his bowl, not the yellow and the blue.

Tell sam I will personally make sure all the blue and yellow ones are removed and ill change all the M's to W's for winner

[Nick]

Some interesting numbers when you compare some top picks last year to top picks this year. The difference between 2010 fourth overall pick Trent Williams and 2009 fourth overall pick Aaron Curry isn't that big (< $3 million in guaranteed money), but there are some big differences between 2010 fifth overall pick Eric Berry and 2009 fifth overall pick Mark Sanchez ($6 million in guaranteed money).

First overall pick Matthew Stafford's deal last year contained $41.75 million guaranteed, and some have predicted Bradford could come away with as much as $50 million guaranteed. It's going to be very interesting to see where this contract lands, but wherever it is, it's going to be the richest contract ever given out to a rookie player. And if the league gets a new CBA with a rookie wage scale, it will stay that way in the history books.