Could Sam Bradford be an option for the Rams?

The more things change, the more things stay the same.

The Rams left Los Angeles 22 years ago without a franchise quarterback and return home as unsure about their quarterback now as they were then.

The bad news is, until they identify the face of their franchise behind center they’ll remain a good team but likely not a great one.

The good news is, armed with the 15th pick in next April’s draft they stand a good chance to land one of the top three quarterbacks available.

Meanwhile, with free agency rules quite a bit different now than they were in 1994, a whole bunch of money to spend under the salary cap and a handful of quarterbacks likely to be available on the open market, the Rams are well positioned to add a quality veteran through free agency.

The question is, which one?

The obvious possibilities are Robert Griffin III, Colin Kaepernick, Peyton Manning and Johnny Manziel, who the Washington Redskins, San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos and Cleveland Browns will most certainly release as soon as the new league year begins in early March. Of those four, RG3 and Kaepernick make the most sense for the Rams – although that says more about concerns about Manning and Manziel than it does how highly the Rams think of RG3 or Kaepernick.

On the other hand, one or two options from another group of quarterbacks could spring free depending on how contract negotiations unfold with their current teams.

Sam Bradford, Kirk Cousins, Brock Osweiler and Ryan Fitzpatrick all played relatively well with the Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos and New York Jets in the final year of their contracts, but probably not well enough – nor over a long enough period of time – to earn them the contracts they’re all seeking with their current teams.

All four could end up getting franchise tagged, but that would mean their present employers paying them approximately $20 million for the upcoming season. Needless to say, that’s a lot of money.

While the Redskins are positioned decently to go that route with Cousins, the Eagles and Broncos face such difficult free agent decisions across their rosters that tagging Bradford and Osweiler could cripple their chances of retaining their other free agents.

As you see, the Eagles, Redskins, Broncos and Jets are between a rock and a hard place. They don’t want to lose Bradford, Cousins, Osweiler and or Fitzpatrick but they also can’t impede their ability to keep other players by overpaying their quarterbacks.

Chances are, then, at least two of Bradford, Cousins, Osweiler or Fitzpatrick could be available to the Rams beginning March 7th.

Here is a look at all four:

Kirk Cousins: The 27-year-old Cousins finally got the chance to run the Redskins last year after three seasons backing up or alternating with RG3, and he turned in a career year by leading the Redskins to a division title and throwing for 29 touchdowns. He completed nearly 70 percent of his passes and threw for 4,166 yards with 101.6 quarterback rating. While contract talks have already broken down between Cousins and the Redskins, it’s hard to imagine Washington letting him walk.

Sam Bradford: The former No. 1 pick overall by the Rams quietly had decent year after getting traded by the Rams to Philadelphia, where he threw for 3,725 yards, 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. His disappointing time with the Rams was dominated by an inability to stay healthy, but that wasn’t the case last year, and the team he’d be coming back to in Los Angeles is much better situated to complement Bradford rather than detract.

Brock Osweiler: Although the 25-year-old Osweiler went 5-2 record as a starter in place of Manning, he’s got such a small body of work you wonder how much credence the Broncos put in it, let alone anyone else. At least as it relates to a long-term contract. That could help the Rams chances, as it means Osweiler might hit free agency as a result. But do the Rams want to chance their future on a quarterback with less than 400 career pass attempts?

Ryan Fitzpatrick The 33-year-old veteran is coming off a season in which he threw for 3,905 yards, and 31 touchdowns. Those numbers represent career bests for Fitzpatrick, and they’d slide perfectly onto a Rams team that’s solid across the board and is a dependable quarterback short of being a legitimate contender. Signing Fitzpatrick wouldn’t preclude the Rams from investing a high draft pick in a young quarterback next April, as it would allow them to use the veteran Fitzpatrick as a bridge to the future.