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I was hesitant to break out my crystal ball before the start of free agency because I needed a little more time and information to predict anything. However, I now believe Sam Bradford is a lock to be the first name called on April 22nd. For all I know, we could trade for Michael Vick in the next four days or have a draft day trade with Philadelphia but I don't really see either happening.
The signing of A.J. Feeley speaks volumes. Why? I'll tell you. It's easy to rationalize by Devaney and Co. because all it looks like is a replacement for Kyle Boller. He is a perfect fit here because he has great knowledge of Shurmur's offense and worked with him in Philadelphia. I think this is exactly why we haven't cut Bulger yet. If we go into mini camps prior to the draft with Bulger and Feeley, it doesn't fully tip our hand towards what we are going to do with the #1 pick. It buys Devaney time to say we're evaluating our quarterbacks and we'll see who emerges as the starter. If they were to release Bulger today, we would only have Feeley, Null, and Reilly on the roster. At least if we keep Bulger, it wouldn't look painfully obvious that we are taking Bradford.
I believe the plan of action is as follows: We enter mini camps with Bulger, Feeley, and Null fighting for the starting job. Spagnuolo does his usual "we already know Marc and we've seen Keith a little bit last year" routine when explaining how he's going to go about figuring out the position. Then, on April 22nd, we draft Sam Bradford first overall. The other up side of keeping Bulger on the roster until then is leverage in negotiations because there is the threat we can easily take Suh/McCoy and just go another year with Bulger as our QB. Suh/McCoy would both fall in slots two and three, where as Bradford would take a hit falling to number four. That would help us immensely in terms of getting a contract done before the draft. Afterwards, we shop Bulger around and see if we can get anything. If not, we release him soon afterwards. Feeley enters the season as the starter, lasts six-eight games, and the Bradford era begins.
The only big hurdle keeping this from happening right now is how Bradford performs at his pro day. However, from everything I've read about the combine and his shoulder everything came back well and teams were satisfied with his progress. I can't say I agree totally with the pick, but I definitely see the logic and reasoning behind it. As of right now, I don't see anyway Sam's not a Ram on April 22nd. Not my preferred choice, but as always I'll stand behind the decision.
The signing of A.J. Feeley speaks volumes. Why? I'll tell you. It's easy to rationalize by Devaney and Co. because all it looks like is a replacement for Kyle Boller. He is a perfect fit here because he has great knowledge of Shurmur's offense and worked with him in Philadelphia. I think this is exactly why we haven't cut Bulger yet. If we go into mini camps prior to the draft with Bulger and Feeley, it doesn't fully tip our hand towards what we are going to do with the #1 pick. It buys Devaney time to say we're evaluating our quarterbacks and we'll see who emerges as the starter. If they were to release Bulger today, we would only have Feeley, Null, and Reilly on the roster. At least if we keep Bulger, it wouldn't look painfully obvious that we are taking Bradford.
I believe the plan of action is as follows: We enter mini camps with Bulger, Feeley, and Null fighting for the starting job. Spagnuolo does his usual "we already know Marc and we've seen Keith a little bit last year" routine when explaining how he's going to go about figuring out the position. Then, on April 22nd, we draft Sam Bradford first overall. The other up side of keeping Bulger on the roster until then is leverage in negotiations because there is the threat we can easily take Suh/McCoy and just go another year with Bulger as our QB. Suh/McCoy would both fall in slots two and three, where as Bradford would take a hit falling to number four. That would help us immensely in terms of getting a contract done before the draft. Afterwards, we shop Bulger around and see if we can get anything. If not, we release him soon afterwards. Feeley enters the season as the starter, lasts six-eight games, and the Bradford era begins.
The only big hurdle keeping this from happening right now is how Bradford performs at his pro day. However, from everything I've read about the combine and his shoulder everything came back well and teams were satisfied with his progress. I can't say I agree totally with the pick, but I definitely see the logic and reasoning behind it. As of right now, I don't see anyway Sam's not a Ram on April 22nd. Not my preferred choice, but as always I'll stand behind the decision.
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