Ty Simpson says he had "secret meeting" with Sean McVay before draft

After he was drafted by the Rams, quarterback Ty Simpson said he had only a "brief" meeting with Rams scouts at the Alabama Pro Day workout. On Monday, Simpson amended that answer.

Via Sarah Barshop of ESPN, Simpson told Ian Fitzsimmons of ESPN Radio on Monday that he had a "secret meeting" with Rams coach Sean McVay before the draft.

"We tried to keep this under wraps as long as we could," Simpson told Fitzsimmons. "It was something to where I knew they were interested, but they wanted to make it private and didn't want people to know that they were interested.

"So, I had some secret meetings with Coach McVay, and I just was trying to be on script and do what everybody told me and not to tell anybody."

Simpson later said he had one "secret meeting" with McVay, and they talked "for hours and hours" about football.

"I was told to not say anything," Simpson said, "you know, because they didn't want anybody to know."

If word had gotten out that the Rams were looking seriously at Simpson, the Rams would have been vulnerable to someone trading up in front of them. And someone may have done it. The perception that McVay believed in Simpson (McVay's post-selection demeanor notwithstanding) could have morphed into the reality of other teams deeming him to be more desirable.

So why would Simpson let the cat out of the bag now? For starters, it doesn't matter — the Rams got him. At another level, however, Simpson is surely aware of the belief that McVay may not have been all in with the decision. This additional fact could dull the narrative that was created the moment McVay, while sitting next to G.M. Les Snead, crammed his hands into the pockets of his pants and seemingly sulked.