Mar 26, 2014; Orlando, FL, USA; St. Louis Rams head coachspeaks during a press conference at the NFL Annual Meetings. Mandatory Credit: Rob Foldy-USA TODAY Sports

If it’s one thing that the Rams made clear in the 2014 draft, it’s that they were going to build their team from the inside out and build it to win the NFC West. That’s why Jeff Fisher took a leap of faith and drafted an offensive lineman in the first round for the first time ever in his coaching career, and why the Rams took defensive tackle Aaron Donald instead of trading back for a safety in the first round.

The Rams almost continued that philosophy of building their team to win in the trenches by almost pulling off a trade that would have completely changed the rest of the first round and their entire draft.

According to NFL Network’s Michael Silver, who spent the entire weekend in the Rams’ war room, the Rams were in trade talks with the Baltimore Ravens at the 17th overall pick in order to take Notre Dame offensive lineman, Zack Martin.

The Rams were willing to give up a second and third round pick this year, along with next year’s second-round pick if Martin had fallen to the Ravens.

We know now that the Dallas Cowboys passed up the opportunity to take Johnny Football, who Jerry Jones said was the top player on their board at the time, and instead made the smart choice for the first draft in what seems like forever, and took Martin instead.

Had the Cowboys taken a safety or taken Manziel, the entire draft would have been completely different. The Rams wouldn’t have been able to trade away their fifth round pick to trade up to get Lamarcus Joyner, and the Rams wouldn’t have been able to take Zac Stacy‘s new wingman, Tre Mason, in the third round

Martin would have been a nice addition as he not only would have been able to add depth to any position on the offensive line, but he is the ideal tackle that you want on your offensive line in the NFC West. The Rams would have went from a team with absolutely no offensive line to a team that had a lot of solid depth at the offensive line.

The Rams did come out pretty good not making the trade though. Martin would have been a nice addition to the offensive line, but the price would have been big, maybe a little too big for comfort.

The Rams still made out pretty well. They added a solid nickel cornerback that has the ability to move to safety if needed and then added depth and a good number two running back to their backfield.

Other interesting notes from the article:

– Dave McGinnis has turned down multiple offers to be a defensive coordinator in order to stay with the Rams.

– The Rams debated for a while to trade back up into the first round to take Manziel

– Jeff Fisher “reached” on Mo Alexander to avoid getting “Bobby Wagner mad”.

-Fisher and Williams made up while Fisher was on a beach in Mexico