NFL Rumors: St. Louis Rams Would Be Foolish to Trade Steven Jackson

Earlier this week, rumors swirled that the St. Louis Rams were thinking about trading Pro Bowl running back Steven Jackson. Such a move would be foolish, because it would be counterproductive to the team's effort to rebuild its offense.

Sports Illustrated's Peter King claimed that Jackson's future with the Rams was likely tied to whether or not Alabama running back Trent Richardson is available when they are on the clock with the sixth pick in the 2012 NFL draft.

But unless the Rams trade up, that's an unlikely scenario, since Richardson probably won't make it past the Cleveland Browns at No. 4 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 5.

NFL Network's Mike Lombardi went on The B.S. Report with Bill Simmons and further agitated the situation by claiming that Jackson was unhappy where he was and wanted to redo his contract. Jackson is owed a base salary of $7 million in each of the next two seasons. 

But all of that appears to have been wild speculation, as the Rams claim that Jackson is not unhappy with his contract, and the team now says it's not interested in trading him, according to the Associated Press (via ESPN.com).

There is absolutely no reason the Rams should even be entertaining this idea.

Jackson is a three-time Pro Bowler who has won St. Louis' team MVP award three times, is the franchise's all-time leading rusher and won the NFC rushing title in 2009. 

Jackson struggled with a hamstring injury in 2011, but still managed to play in 15 games and rushed for 1,145 yards on 260 carries. That average of 4.4 yards per carry tied for the second-best rate of his career. He also caught 42 passes for 333 yards. 

The Oregon State product is still a valuable commodity, and he is just 28 years old.

While the Rams may want to get Jackson a viable backup because of the mileage he has accumulated after 2,138 career carries and 9,093 yards, he and quarterback Sam Bradford should be the pieces the team builds its offense around.

The Rams should be doing all they can to land Bradford a No. 1 receiver in this year's draft, not thinking about replacing their best offensive weapon.

Luckily for fans of the team, it appears that they are not actually trying to move Jackson.