The Rams Waited to Announce Their Trade for the First Pick in Deference to Kobe

The Rams traded a boatload of picks to the Tennessee Titans in order to secure the first pick in the NFL Draft later this month. The Rams moved up 14 spots in the draft in exchange for their first-round pick this year, their first-round pick next year, two second-round picks this year, a third-round pick this year, and a third-round pick next year. In exchange for six picks in the first three rounds of the next two drafts, Tennessee gave up their first-rounder, a fourth-rounder, and a sixth-rounder, all this year. That's pretty crazy! But is it crazier than this?

If you're wondering why this trade didn't get announced yesterday… Well, Jeff Fisher felt Wednesday belonged to Kobe. It's an LA thing.
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) April 14, 2016

I don't know, but it's close. Apparently the two sides reached an agreement on the trade last night—you can get the tick-tock from Peter King—and Jeff Fisher somehow managed to keep a lid on it until this morning, so the Rams would not be stealing Kobe's thunder. As the game played out, though, it might have been impossible, even for the NFL, to steal his moment, but this is still pretty fascinating. Fisher's plan makes sense for the Rams; they're the new kids in town and why ruffle feathers during an LA institution's swan song if it's not totally necessary, but it's sort of amazing that Tennessee kept a lid on it, too.

The Titans now have an insane stockpile of draft picks and jumpstarted their rebuilding process around Marcus Mariota, and they did it all by fleecing the Rams. If I'm Titans general manager Jon Robinson, I'm telling every single person I know, and even strangers on the street, what I just did. I would tell my barber I just changed the course of a franchise. I would tell my cousin with a gambling addiction to take a flier on the Titans and why. I would tell my restaurant host and wait for the tears of joy. And I would sure as hell let any reporter in the Tri-State area know.

I don't know how Jeff Fisher did it, but he did it. Maybe one of the 2017 picks he gave up wasn't for the pick, but for Tennessee's silence.