Interest in the fourth pick appears to be growing. Will Tannehill be a target of the Eagles?
Two (very) separate Cleveland sources are reporting an interest in teams looking to move up to the fourth pick. Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer says “multiple teams have called the Browns about their No. 4 pick.” Tony Grossi, formerly of the Plain Dealer and current ESPN Cleveland reporter offered a source citing that the Philadelphia Eagles are interested in trading up to the fourth pick, presumably for Ryan Tannehill.
Cabot’s report cites at least three or four teams in the top 20 looking to trade up for various targets. She offers two teams in specific looking to deal for the fourth pick in the St. Louis Rams and Philadelphia Eagles.
Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher was a guest on “Mike & Mike” on Friday when he offered the Browns name as a possible trade partner. This one is tough to wrap your head around because it’s not clear who the Rams would be targeting at four. So, we went to one of the top sources for anything NFL related, Jason LaCanfora. The question to LaCanfora was who would the Rams be targeting in a trade up to No. 4. Here’s LaCanfora’s response:
@nflfuture I’d be pretty shocked if rams moved up
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) April 14, 2012
We would concur with LaCanfora. The only caveat would be if the Vikings passed on USC OT Matt Kalil which may intrigue the Rams with Jason Smith’s struggles to protect their franchise QB Sam Bradford. Fisher was explicit in his introductory press conference as Rams HC that protecting Bradford would be priority No. 1.
With Grossi and Cabot concurring on the Philadelphia Eagles as a possible trade partner this may have some legs. Philly’s interest in Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill is very intriguing although the Eagles wouldn’t have to go all the way to No. 4 to get him. With Miami picking eighth they are the most logical fit for Tannehill putting the Jaguars at No. 7 in the catbirds seat for a trade down. Getting to four would be costly for the Eagles who have three picks in the top 60. The Browns and Eagles do have a significant history of being tied together in trades with Tom Heckert at the helm in Cleveland.
The Browns trading down to No. 15 would take them out of the race for any of the top playmakers in the draft after doing the same last season and surely continue to enrage this passionate fan base.
With less than two weeks until the draft, the rumors are beginning to swirl and it could get real interesting in the top 10 of this draft if any of these come to fruition.
