Kenny Britt Signing Ensures St. Louis Rams Won’t Waste Early 2014 NFL Draft Pick on WR

Kenny Britt St. Louis Rams — Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports

There was a wide-sweeping misconception surrounding the St. Louis Rams coming into this offseason that the team needed to add a wide receiver with an early selection in the 2014 NFL Draft. The reasoning behind defining this belief as a misconception is due to the fact that the Rams drafted both Tavon Austin (Round 1, No. 8 overall) and Stedman Bailey (Round 3, No. 92 overall) in 2013 and selected Brian Quick (Round 2, No. 33 overall) and Chris Givens (Round 4, No. 96 overall) the year prior to that in 2012. Add in Austin Pettis (Round 3, No. 78 overall) in 2011, and this team should have more than enough wideouts for the upcoming season, right?

It seems the organization and general manger Les Snead agreed with the public opinion that the team still needed to add to its receiving weaponry with the signing of Kenny Britt. The much-maligned former Tennessee Titans receiver will reunite with Jeff Fisher in St. Louis to bring a size and speed combination that the team has been missing since forever.

At 6-foot-3, 215-pounds, Britt is nearly an identical twin to the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Quick. The only difference is he actually has a resume with some production on it (three 40-plus catch seasons) whereas Quick had the best year of his career last season (18 grabs, 302 yards). This signing shouldn’t necessarily be seen as the team throwing in the towel on Quick’s development, but it also should serve as a wake-up call to the wideout entering year three.

What the one-year, $1.4 million deal should signal more than anything is that the Rams are not going to take a receiver with either of their two first-round picks or potentially at all in the 2014 NFL Draft. This signing opens up a multitude of possibilities for the Rams as far as selections go at No. 2 and No. 13 overall. Perhaps they will look to take an offensive lineman and buck the trend of coach Fisher never selecting an O-lineman in Round 1 or maybe they will surprise and go defense with a corner or some much-needed help at safety. Of course there is always the possibility of taking the incomparable Jadeveon Clowney at No. 2 should the Houston Texans pass on him and the team have no suitors to trade down.

This deal with Britt really opens up any and all scenarios for the Rams and gives them the ultimate freedom on draft day. Look for GM Snead to utilize this leverage to his advantage and wheel and deal plenty in May’s draft. While it remains unlikely that the franchise will pull a Robert Griffin III – Washington Redskins esque heist, the possibility remains that the Rams can get quite a haul to stockpile some future draft choices. There’s no doubt the likelihood of such a deal getting done increased substantially thanks to the signing of Britt now that the perception of needing to waste yet another pick on a receiver is officially a moot point.

Anthony Blake is a Senior Writer/Copy Editor for Rant Sports. You Can Follow Him on Twitter, on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.