2012 NFL Draft No. 2 Pick: St. Louis Rams Willing to Trade Pick Very Early

According to an article from Jason LaCanfora on NFL.com, the St. Louis Rams are willing to trade the No. 2 pick in the 2012 NFL Draft from a team aggressively looking to move up to grab quarterback Robert Griffin III.  

ESPN reported this week that the Rams have indeed decided to trade the highly-coveted No. 2 pick.  

I have previously written that the bounty the Rams could theoretically attain from the trade could potentially be the third largest draft related trade ever.

There are at least four reasons why St. Louis might legitimately consider moving the prestigious pick before the April 26 NFL Draft:

1.  The Rams could avoid the potential for teams desiring to upgrade at quarterback adding Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts or Matt Flynn of the Green Bay Packers, meaning they wouldn't want to trade up for Griffin III.

2.  The Rams would eliminate the risk (however small) that RG3 performs poorly at his pro day, his stock falls after all the NFL Combine buzz or a freak injury were to occur between now and the draft. 

3.  Obviously, if somebody offers an insane, Ricky Williams-like trade package, the Rams would almost certainly strike immediately before said team came back to its senses.

4.  Were the Rams to trade the pick prior to the start of free agency on March 13, St. Louis would have a clearer picture of exactly what it would need to do in free agency, as they would know ahead of time what they could do via the draft. 

Peter King of Sports Illustrated reports that Rams Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Football Operations Kevin Demoff sees three windows to trade the No. 2 pick.  

King also asserts that it makes sense to discard the NFL Draft value chart regarding a trade of the aforementioned No. 2 pick due to it being in its highest demand since 1998.  

Shane Gray covers the St. Louis Rams year-round. You are encouraged to check out the rest of his work here and to follow him on Twitter.