Adrian Fedkiw
Tom Condon is back at it again. After appearing on SiriusXM NFL radio Monday night, Condon spoke to ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio Tuesday and said that he and his client Sam Bradford didn’t know about the Philadelphia Eagles’ intentions of trading up to No. 2 so they can select a potential franchise quarterback.
As they were making this plan, it would have been nice if they had told him about it,” said Condon, who said that he re-iterated to Eagles vice president of football operations Howie Roseman in a recent phone conversation that Bradford wants out of Philadelphia.
A few days after Bradford signed a 2-year, $36 million deal with $22 million guaranteed, the Eagles moved up from No. 13 to No. 8 on March 9 with that deal that included Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonso being shipped to the Miami Dolphins. Philadelphia then navigated its way up to the No. 2 pick in Thursday’s NFL Draft last Wednesday.
It’s his right to demand a trade and he wants to be traded,” Condon.
Condon said when he told Roseman of Bradford’s demand, Roseman “was not too surprised. He knew how Sam felt. Sam made it very clear to them, he was adamant when they informed him last week about the trade up to No. 2. He told them he was not very happy about it. He made that very clear. So this [trade demand] comes as no surprise.”
“Basically, our contention is that the team could have used the draft picks on offensive and defensive players for this season, to win this season,” said Condon. “If the plan was to build for the future, where does that leave Sam this year?”
Even if the Eagles stayed at No. 13 or No. 8, they still might’ve taken a quarterback in the first round. Memphis’ Paxton Lynch would’ve certainly been an option at 13. Head coach Doug Pederson’s been touring the country scouting quarterbacks the last few weeks and made his intentions known about Philadelphia taking a quarterback in the draft before that.
Bradford would’ve had competition breathing down his neck eventually, whether Philly used a first-rounder on Lynch or potential later-round pick on either Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott, Stanford’s Kevin Hogan or Penn State’s Christian Hackenberg.
Condon told the Eagles that Bradford will not show until the first day of mandatory mini-camp on June 7th.
Here’s the thing about June 7th, the Eagles would save $6.5 million if they traded Bradford after June 1st.
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.
If the Eagles don’t trade him, Bradford needs to stop whining, go out and prove himself. If he wants to be “the man,” go out and do what Drew Brees did. Brees was the Chargers’ starter for two years before Philip Rivers took over the full-time starting spot in 2006.
Brees went on to sign with New Orleans in 2006 and eventually went on to win a Super Bowl with the Saints.
Stop complaining Sam!
Brees didn’t.
Bradford has the opportunity of being “the man” somewhere else next year if he has a monster season. What if the Eagles miraculously win 11 games and make a deep playoff run? He re-signed with Philadelphia because the free-agent market wasn’t that hot for him. He’s a 28-year-old quarterback who’s never won a playoff game or been on a winning team.
Go out, be “the man” this year and by next offseason more teams might want you.
Right now, not too many do.
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By the way, Bradford did know about the Eagles’ plans. Doug Pederson was always transparent when talking about the possibility of trading up and drafting a quarterback, and both he and Howie Roseman have always said Bradford’s the starter. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t live under a rock given he’s made $100+ million during his NFL career.