ST. LOUIS (AP) -Two days ahead of the draft, St. Louis Rams general manager Billy Devaney said leaguewide interest in acquiring the first pick has been light.
Predictably, he refused to tip his hand whether the Rams stand pat.
Coach Steve Spagnuolo even passed the buck right back to Devaney at a news conference Tuesday, joking that the team would do “whatever Billy decides.”
Devaney said quarterback Sam Bradford and defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy remained in the running. He expected to have the team’s board stacked by later in the afternoon, and planned to poll scouts and coaches Wednesday.
The Cleveland Browns, who have the seventh pick, are the only team to announce their desire to trade up with St. Louis. Devaney said interest “hasn’t been this massive movement, trust me.”
ng done, I know that. We still have a little bit of time and I expect we’d just keep on talking and see what happens.”
Devaney didn’t appear to be a big fan of the first prime-time draft. He said it would be “weird” spacing picks over three days, but added, “Who cares what we think as long as TV’s happy with it?”
He wasn’t sure if there’d be a market for the first pick of the second round that begins the second day, or whether the time gap would serve to create interest.
“Teams are so prepared that if we started the second round immediately, teams are going to know what they need,” Devaney said. “They’re not going to do something silly just because they had more time to think about it.”
Devaney had muted praise for Bradford, the presumed front-runner for the first pick. He said there’s been contact with a number of players regarding a possible contract.
“Yeah, we spent time with Bradford and he answered a lot of questions,” Devaney said. “But so did those other kids.”
For the Rams to trade down, Devaney said the offer would have to be “something pretty darn good.” Bradford wowed scouts at his pro day in March while erasing doubts about his surgically repaired throwing shoulder, then impressed the Rams again in a private workout last week.
up A.J. Feeley and raw Keith Null and Mike Reilly on the roster. But a franchise that finished 1-15 last year and is in a 6-42 trough the last three seasons needs help everywhere.
Spagnuolo said it was a “pretty safe assessment” the Rams would take a quarterback somewhere in the draft, although Devaney pointed out he’d like to pick a quarterback every year, and Null was taken in the sixth round last year.
Spagnuolo’s background is defense, but he said he’d have no problem with a quarterback first. The Rams took offensive tackle Jason Smith last year with the first overall pick.
“Can’t a quarterback help the defense get better?” Spagnuolo said. “I’ve never had a problem with that.”
Devaney and Spagnuolo said the ownership situation has had no bearing on preparations, and will not affect who they take. Minority owner Stan Kroenke exercised matching rights last week in an attempt to purchase the remaining 60 percent of the franchise.
Illinois businessman Shahid Khan reached agreement with owners Chip Rosenbloom and his sister, Lucia Rodriguez, on Feb. 11 to buy the team.
“We’re wrapped up here in these four walls and it’s all football,” Spagnuolo said. “We certainly respect what’s going on outside of it, it is a business, but we’re knee-deep in the football part of it.”
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