Adrian Fedkiw
Sam Bradford is ready to go!
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. But after Wednesday’s blockbuster trade which saw the Philadelphia Eagles trade up to the No. 2 pick, it turns out that he’s just a stop-gap.
We all kind of knew that anyway.
Bradford was reportedly “hot” about the deal and is demanding a trade, but would Philadelphia ship him before or during the draft? You’d think the Eagles would also be able to snag a second or third-round pick back for Bradford, whether it’s this year or next.
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. And hell, maybe the Broncos would even be willing to ship the Birds their first (I doubt it). It’s tough to be content with Mark Sanchez as your starting quarterback.
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.
Enough salary cap space to resign Fletcher Cox.
It’d be nice to finally get him locked up.
Did Jim jump sites and start writing here. BLECH.