2:06pm: A Bills source has told Joe Buscaglia of WGR 550 that they are not pursuing Bradford.
1:48pm: The Rams tell Mike Rodak of ESPN.com (via Twitter) that there is “no merit” to the report linking Bradford to the Bills.
1:06pm: The Bills are interested in acquiring quarterback Sam Bradford from the Rams, according to Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports. Multiple team sources tell Getlin that Buffalo head coach Rex Ryan and offensive coordinator Greg Roman aren’t high on incumbent QB EJ Manuel, and believe that Bradford could help the club contend in 2015.
The Rams have said that they’d like to retain Bradford as their starting quarterback next season, but recent reports have indicated that St. Louis has allowed to Bradford to determine his trade market. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the Rams would deal the 27-year-old Bradford, but it certainly seems like the club is keeping its options open.
Bradford is scheduled to count more than $16MM on the Rams’ cap in 2015, the final year of his contract; St. Louis would be on the hook for just $3.595MM in dead money if they dealt him. An acquiring team would be responsible for Bradford’s base salary of $12.985MM. Still, that figure seems incredibly high for a quarterback who hasn’t been able to stay on the field. Bradford has torn his ACL in each of the past two seasons, and has played in only seven games during that time.
As Getlin writes, it could be tough for the Bills to pony up enough compensation to satisfy the Rams. Buffalo only has six pick in this year’s draft, having already traded their first-round selection to move up in last year’s draft. Still, Bradford probably wouldn’t command a first-rounder anyway, so perhaps the Bills would be willing to part with some combination of mid-round picks.
Over the weekend, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the Browns would also have interest in acquiring Bradford.