St. Louis Rams Show the Money To Sam Bradford

So just what will 78 million dollars buy you these days?  Well if you are the St. Louis Rams, one of the worst teams in the NFL, it will buy you the services of number one overall draft pick Sam Bradford. 

The Rams and Bradford have agreed to a six year contract that will give Bradford at least 50 million dollars in guaranteed money.  That is an NFL record.  And by they way, as if anyone remembers, Bradford has not played in more than a year.

With the Rams opening training camp last week, all eyes were focused on what was going to happen with their number one pick.  Most of this concern was due to what St. Louis would have at the quarterback position, if for some reason, a deal could not be reached with Bradford.

During the off season, with the departure of Marc Bulger, the Rams shored up the position with AJ Feeley.  Feeley, who most recently was with the Carolina Panthers, has not started an NFL game since 2007.  Yet, he has worked out with the number one offense for the Rams during the team's OTAs.

The other options for the Rams were not really palatable.  Keith Null, who did play some last season when Bulger was hurt, remains on the roster.  After that, is another rookie that has never taken the field, Thaddeus Lewis from Duke.

Now is Bradford going to start now that the team has shown him the money?  Or will the Rams wait and see how Feeley does at the helm, and gradually move Bradford to the front of the line?  The latter will have to happen soon, or the dormant and very sterile Ed Jones Dome will stay that way for most of the season, again.

As you look around the league, teams are not shelling out a lot of money, albeit it is still more then most of us will see in our lifetime, at any players whether free agent or rookies.  Mainly, that is due to the fear of there not being any football next year as it looks like the owners and the players are going to go head to head over the collective bargaining agreement.

But, the Rams are stepping out on the ledge, and giving away a ton, ton of money to someone that has not been in a game since October of last year.  Yes, Bradford did win the Heisman in 2008, but is that enough for St. Louis to basically give a blank check to him?

While a lot of first round quarterbacks have seen the money and gone no where fast, Ryan Leaf, Joey Harrington, Akili Smith, Gino Torretta, and the list goes on and on.  With the country still in the midst of a recession, what kind of signal and message does a record NFL contract of almost 90 million dollars say to the fans of the Rams?

Maybe, money can buy happiness.  Well, at least for Bradford.