NFL Draft rumor mill: Report of Rams' RB Steven Jackson on trading block, interest in Richardson

Evan Silva, writer for NBC Sports and ProFootballTalk.com, has reported via twitter that the St. Louis Rams will shop RB Steven Jackson during the draft.

#Rams will shop Steven Jackson during draft, but $7M base in '12 & '13. So much wear on tires. S-Jax nets 4th-round pick, best case.

— Evan Silva (@evansilva) April 24, 2012

This comes amidst another report from Michael Lombardi of NFL.com on late Monday that Steven Jackson is unhappy about his current contract situation and wants to renegotiate, according to a league source.

Many have immediately made a connection that this very well could mean that the Rams are interested in drafting Alabama running back Trent Richardson, who the vast majority of NFL draft analysts have mocked to the Cleveland Browns. Some have even gone as far to suggest that the Rams may be interested in trading up from No. 6 to No. 3 to leap frog the Browns and draft Richardson there, and using the second round pick acquired from the Washington Redskins to do it.

One might wonder, if the Rams are so high on Richardson, why trade down all the way to No. 6 when the Browns offered a package of equal or greater value that puts the Rams at No. 4 and a drastically better place to get Richardson? If the Rams do in fact trade up, which I'm still skeptical of at this point, it will cement the fact that Browns never had a chance at acquiring the No. 2 pick over the Redskins.

The other question: If any team makes the move and takes Richardson at No. 3, where does this leave the Cleveland Browns' options at No. 4? Morris Claiborne, Justin Blackmon, Matt Kalil, and trading down are all still there. Though apparently, the market for Kalil isn't nearly as lucrative as once thought.

UPDATE:

Here we go: Vikes GM Rick Spielman said trade talk at No. 3 is "heating up....There is enough that there is a potential for a trade."

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 24, 2012