Adrian Fedkiw
Adam Schefter dropped the bomb Monday after rumors already had begun to simmer about Sam Bradford’s future following the Philadelphia Eagles’ trade up to No. 2 last week.
Schefter reported yesterday that Bradford requested a trade from the Eagles because he’s not thrilled with the team moving up to the second overall pick in the NFL Draft. Apparently, the team coming out and saying he’s their starting quarterback isn’t enough, because he wants there to be no question that Carson Wentz won’t supplant him as the starting quarterback. Which wouldn’t happen anyway.
Bradford wants to be “the man,” according to his agent Tom Condon, who appeared on an interview Monday night with SiriusXM NFL Radio.
“Sam’s a competitor and he wants to go some place that he’s the man. He just doesn’t want to be there holding a place card and then wondering where he’s going to go at the end of the year. He’d liked to go some place where he can participate and play.”
That’s exactly the complete opposite of competitor, but I wouldn’t expect Condon to try to make sense at all. If this is all Bradford, then Condon is doing his best for his client. If it’s all Condon, then I just don’t know.
Condon then just went balls out crazy acting like he and Bradford had no idea the Eagles were drafting a quarterback, even though Doug Pederson said they were looking to last month. More preposterousness:
If you’re on a two-year contract and the second pick in the draft is behind you, then you really better play well because you’re going to hear it from the fans if you don’t.”
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“He doesn’t view himself as somebody who is a stop-gap kind of quarterback and he wants to go some place and take a chance on being with a team for a long time and I can’t blame him for that.”
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“Last year, he was coming off of the ACL two years in a row, he got through the 14 games and his stats over those 14 games put him in about the middle of the starters,” he said. “If you look at the second half of those 14 games, in the last seven, he was in the top eight or so. And as he got closer to the finish, in his last three games his statistics were really pretty very remarkable.”
This makes Bradford look weak.
If he’s “going to hear it from the fans” if he doesn’t play well, then go out and play well! Stop whining.
I can understand the frustration.
He’s fully healthy throughout an entire offseason for the first time in years and is desperately attempting to dispose of his bust label as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 draft. Except that he can’t, and he won’t.
You can listen to the audio of Condon below. Make sure you have a stress ball in your hand while listening.
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Are the Eagles prepared to eat the money of a possible trade? Bradford, of course, signed a two-year, $36 million contract with $22 million guaranteed.
Bradford has a cap hit of $12.5 million this season and the Eagles would save just $1.5 million in cap space due to a dead money value of $11 million if they traded him prior to June 1st. That dead money value drops to $5.5 million if Philadelphia elects to ship him away after June 1st and it would save $7 million. Next year the cap hit rises to $22.5 million with a $5.5 million dead money value. Philly would save $17 million in cap space if it traded him after the season and you’d think a potential trade partner would renegotiate his contract.
The New York Jets and Denver Broncos need starting quarterbacks. Maybe Roseman would elect to eat the money if the Jets or Broncos were desperate enough to send a second-rounder for him. The Eagles could still wait until after the draft if Denver or New York would still like to add Bradford after June 1st.
Although you’d save more money if you trade him after next year, maybe the best play is to just eat the money and try to get immediate value back for Bradford. Yes, that would mean Chase Daniel is your starting quarterback for the season, but getting rid of Bradford’s contract would free up salary cap space for next year.