I have not thought of that. So, if the Manziel stuff is a bit of smoke and Cleveland is happy to sit at 4 to get him, knowing he will be there then yeah it could hurt the Rams. Houston could mortgage the Bridgewater pick. Then the Rams would have the Clowney pick to try to trade. Would the baggage that came with Clowney this year be a deterant for anyone to want to give up extra picks for him? Maybe. If the Rams can't get what they want for him then I guess the just make the pick. Do the pick Clowney? I think they would take Jake Matthews if they stay pat. I would be fine with that.
The catch is Jacksonville. They desperately need to get fans in the stands. Manziel would do that, at least at first. Or a Cleveland could worry that another team would jump them for Manziel. So I still think they trade with the Rams. So, that would leave Clowney to the Raiders? Do they trade it? The Rams would have to worry that if their target is Matthews that the Raiders prefer him or trade to a team that does. But if Matthews is off the board the that leaves the Rams with Clowney again.....to trade.
I doubt any scenario would really hurt the Rams chances of doing what they want. They either get the guy they want or make the best trade they can with the chance to trade away the rights to Clowney, Bridgewater, or Manziel. In some cases even two trades in the top 4 picks.