Sam Bradford hasn't been able to anything to raise his stock during the past two NFL seasons. But apparently he was able to raise it during the current offseason.
To the point of helping hire an offensive coordinator and, perhaps, reject the hiring of a quarterbacks coach.
Profootballtalk.nbcsports.com has reported that that St. Louis Rams have thrown their support behind Bradford, their oft-injured quarterback by involving him in their offensive coordinator hiring process.
The Rams announced the promotion of quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti to offensive coordinator to replace Brian Schottenheimer, who left to take the same job with the University of Georgia Bulldogs. During the news conference, St. Louis head coach Jeff Fisher said that Bradford played a significant role in the decision to name Cignetti to the position.
"I had a lengthy discussion with Sam, yes, prior to making the decision. It was part of the information gathering process. Sam was very forthcoming. He had some firm opinions. I really enjoyed and appreciated his input," Fisher said, via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Fisher added that if Bradford didn't want Cignetti to get the job, "We wouldn't be sitting here right now."
Bradford, however, may not have been as vocal about former NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia, who interview with the Rams last week about replacing Cignetti as their quarterbacks coach.
Garcia had lobbied hard to become the 49ers quarterbacks coach - where he starred for the majority of his playing career - so he could mentor Colin Kaepernick. But the 49ers hired former East Carolina coach Steve Logan.
And so far, no updates have been reported since Garcia's interview with the Rams.
Bradford's sudden entrenched stature is quite a departure from a St. Louis Post Dispatch tweet in December saying that the Rams intended to bring in a quarterback "not in the building now" to compete with Bradford for the starting job in 2015.
"It's not as much from the standpoint of challenging Sam," Fisher said. "It's to have options. We don't know what that looks like right now. We don't know if that's draft, if that's free agency, or what that looks like. But when we line up in September, we'll have somebody there."
Bradford currently is rehabbing a torn ACL in his left knee for the second consecutive season. The Rams still want to renegotiate Bradford's contract. The former No. 1 pick in the 2010 NFL Draft is scheduled to make nearly $13 million next season.
But the Rams' commitment to Bradford represents a risky move, considering the fact that they're in arguably the toughest division in the NFL, with the Seattle Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers.
They have a first-round talent at quarterback if he can go through the season without an injury. But he has finished a season only twice in his five-year and has not played since week seven of 2013.
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