Due Diligence (Updated)
Associated Press is reporting the following:
Cleveland Browns general manager Tom Heckert says the team has had talks with the St. Louis Rams about moving up in the NFL draft to take quarterback Sam Bradford with the No. 1 overall pick.
Heckert on Thursday said the Browns, who have the No. 7 pick, have been “‘playing a little phone tag” but said they have talked with the Rams, who are expected to select the Oklahoma quarterback.
Browns president Mike Holmgren warned that dealing for Bradford could be difficult, saying “you’d have to mortgage the ranch. In the real world, we’re probably going to go in a different direction.”
Currently owning 10 picks, Cleveland could put together an attractive package of picks to move up.
Bradford did not visit the Browns, but the team attended his pro day workout.
The Browns are just covering their bases, getting the lay of the land, doing their due diligence.
Please let it be that.
In Friday’s Beacon Journal, Holmgren had this to say:
”So the fans don’t get . . . I don’t want everyone to . . . then pull the rug out from everybody in our first draft,” Holmgren said Thursday. ”Look it, he’s a coveted young man. To be able to go up and change somebody’s mind ahead of us, you’d have to mortgage the ranch. You remember when coach Ditka did that with his picks and then he went and played golf.
”Absolutely, we love the player, as do a lot of people. But in the real world, we’re probably going to go in a different direction there.”
So that clears that up.
Red Right 88 