Rams acquire No. 1 pick in NFL draft from Titans – Newsday
The Rams already made big news with their move back to Los Angeles after more than 20 years, and now they’ve put an exclamation point on their relocation with a blockbuster trade that will likely bring them their quarterback of the future.
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The Rams acquired the No. 1 overall pick from the Tennessee Titans on Thursday, giving the Titans their 15th overall pick, two second-round picks, a third-rounder and next year’s first-round choice and a third-rounder as well.
The Rams are almost certain to select a quarterback with the No. 1 pick, likely choosing between Carson Wentz of North Dakota State and Jared Goff of California. Those two are the most highly coveted quarterbacks in this year’s class, and the Rams have been in the market for a franchise quarterback for several years. There has been speculation in recent weeks that the Rams prefer Wentz over Goff.
The trade comes four years after the Rams were involved in another blockbuster deal, when they traded the No. 2 pick to Washington, which then chose Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Robert Griffin III of Baylor. Griffin had a spectacular rookie season in 2012, but injuries and ineffectiveness resulted in his eventual benching and subsequent release in the off-season. He signed a two-year deal with the Browns.
The Titans had the second overall choice last year and selected Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, meaning they had the flexibility to deal away the top choice this year because they no longer had a need at quarterback.
“It’s a big decision for the football team,” Titans first-year general manager Jon Robinson said. “It is not often you have the No. 1 pick, and we hope not to be in this position again. But we tried to use that pick as currency to work the draft and maximize our player acquisition.”
Earlier in the off-season, Robinson traded for disgruntled Eagles running back DeMarco Murray, who was unhappy in Philadelphia after signing a whopping free agent deal once the Cowboys decided not to invest in a big contract.
Robinson said the Titans and Rams had been in discussions about a trade for several weeks before “things fell into place” Thursday morning. Robinson said he had spoken to other teams about the pick in recent weeks.
“In the end, we thought it was a decision that made sense for us to do it,” he said. “There was interest in the pick, and we thought this was the option that made the most sense for us. We think we can really bolster this roster with the picks we now have.”
The Titans now have six picks among the top 76 in this year’s draft — 15, 33, 43, 45, 64 and 76. They already had their own 33rd and 64th overall choices.