Few general managers in the NFL tend to trade draft picks as much as Les Snead of the Rams does. Although he only made one deal during this year’s draft, he’s moved picks frequently in recent years, even going all the way back to his first year as the Rams’ general manager in 2012.
That year, Snead made one of his biggest trade mistakes as a GM. He traded away from linebacker Bobby Wagner, who the Rams really liked in the 2012 draft as an underrated linebacker.
The Rams moved down from No. 45 to 50 in a trade with the Bears, who moved up to select Alshon Jeffery. At No. 47 overall, the Seahawks swooped in and took Wagner, three spots ahead of the Rams.
They knew Wagner was a good player, but they probably didn’t realize just how successful he’d be in the NFL – which makes that trade sting even more for the Rams.
“The one that makes the Hall of Fame, rookie year general manager, we had multiple picks – maybe three in the second round after the Sam Bradford trade,” Snead said on a video call with season ticket holders this week. “And I know we got Janoris Jenkins in that haul in the second round, but we made a trade back like we did in this year’s fourth round to collect some more picks later in the draft and one of the players we were definitely thinking of targeting there was Bobby Wagner. And that year, Bobby didn’t go to the combine so you maybe thought he would slip a little bit farther in the draft but unfortunately, he didn’t and that’s probably going to go down as the one that got picked right in front of you that has probably hurt the most considering he did go to a division rival and is probably working to a Hall of Fame career with the Seahawks.”
And so the “Bobby Wagner Rule” was born. After missing out on Wagner, Snead has changed his view in the draft and has tried to avoid getting cute by trading down to add more picks, while potentially missing out on a player the team really likes.
“I call it the ‘Bobby Wagner Rule. There’s a lot of ways to carve a draft strategy … but the ‘Bobby Wagner Rule’ would be, if a player falls to you and you really want that human being, don’t get cute and don’t worry about those extra draft picks,” he said. “Just take that human being and the rest will take care of itself. Some of the best lessons in this business are learned the hard way.”
Wagner has gone on to have remarkable success in Seattle. He’s made six Pro Bowls, been named a first-team All-Pro five times and has only missed nine games in eight seasons – five of which were in 2014.
He’s undoubtedly one of the best linebackers of this era, and the Rams are reminded of the time they missed out on him when they see the Seahawks on their schedule twice a year.
