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How does the McNabb deal affect the Rams?

What does the Donovan McNabb trade to Washington mean to the Rams? Plenty.

1) The Rams won’t be trading for an Eagle quarterback. Kevin Kolb is the starter now, and Michael Vick is the backup.

2) The Rams won’t be trading for McNabb. That seems simple.

3) The Rams won’t be trading the first choice in the draft to Washington. The Redskins sole purpose in moving up in the draft would have been to get Sam Bradford. Even Dan Snyder isn’t going to give up the draft picks and cash to get Bradford to have him sit on the bench for a year or two. Plus, the Redskins gave up their 2nd round pick, which would have been a must for the Rams to get.

4) Because the Redskins aren’t going to trade up now, the Rams could still trade down with Tampa Bay, if the Buccaneers are enamored of Ndomokung Suh. If the Bucs trade up, they’ll do so to get Suh. The Lions aren’t going to take Bradford, and likely wouldn’t trade out of the top six picks. So the Rams can be reasonably comfortable that even if they traded down to #3 (an unlikely scenario) they could still take Bradford.

5) Now that Washington isn’t going to be paying Bradford, who else is? Is there good reason for Bradford and agents Tom Condon and Ben Dogra to NOT negotiate with the Rams prior to the draft? Probably not. Might as well get it done early.

One little trade caused a lot of ripples in the NFL, even here in St. Louis, didn’t it?