The Buffalo Bills could be looking at a Sam Bradford trade with the St. Louis Rams this offseason as an upgrade over EJ Manuel and this comes as Kirk Cousins is another potential target, with teams like the Cleveland Browns, NY Jets and Tennessee Titans as fits for both quarterbacks heading into the 2015 season.
Bradford's name has come up quite a bit since the season ended as a potential trade target and now conflicting have him in the sights of the Bills. According to Pro Football Talk, reports came out this week from the scouting combine that the Bills were looking to deal for Bradford, but those reports have now been refuted. Pro Football Talk writes that both Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News and Mike Rodak of ESPN.com report that there is "no trade" happening now for Bradford.
UPDATE: Reports have Josh McCown close to a deal with the Bills.
This was expected of Bradford this offseason, as he is coming off of another knee surgery and the Rams were unsure of how he would rebound following that procedure. The Browns, Jets and Bills were mentioned by Adam Schefter in the offseason as options for Bradford if the Rams pulled out a deal, while Cousins was also mentioned as a potential target. Bradford has dealt with two ACL surgeries in the past two years and that is one reason why the Rams are considering other options at quarterback.
While the report has been refuted, there is still a chance that the Bills look in on this deal. Names like Brian Hoyer, Mark Sanchez and Ryan Mallett are on the free agent market and the team could bypass those players for a trade instead. The Rams have an interesting situation with Bradford, as they could trade him and only deal with about $4 million on the cap. Adam Schefter reports that the team who trades for Bradford could then re-work his deal without any issues.
Bradford is on his rookie deal and makes $12.985 million next year and that situation could be one that the Rams want to explore due to the financial numbers. SB Nation's Ryan Van Bibber writes that this could all be a way for Bradford's reps to get "leverage" as they try and work out an extension with the Rams, but don't be surprised if the trade talk continues this offseason.
Bradford could be too risky for the Browns, but they have a ton of draft picks and could look at making a trade. The team has Brian Hoyer as a quarterback target and they also previously had interest in Cousins at the draft last year. The team offered a fourth round pick for Cousins and was turned down, but this offseason things could be different. Cousins reportedly wants a chance to start and with Jay Gruden already naming RG3 the starter, he may ask out of Washington.
If Cousins is traded, expect the Houston Texans, Bills, Browns and Jets to be the most likely landing spots. Bradford was having a strong start to the season through seven games before being injured, as he was completing a career high 60 percent of his passes and also had 14 touchdowns with just four interceptions. Bradford likely would have set career highs in yards and TDs if he stayed healthy and now his future is uncertain.
