Sam Bradford: “I Realized This Is Still the Best Place for Me to Be”

The Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Zach Berman didn’t waste any time getting right to the point.

“Sam, why did you miss those two weeks?” he asked.

Sam Bradford scratched the back of his head for a few seconds before answering.

“It was one of those things when I first found out about the trade, I was frustrated. I just felt like I needed some time,” he said. “I could’ve stayed here, could’ve continued to work here, but I’m not sure if my head would’ve really been here those two weeks.”

Bradford rescinded his trade demand and reported to Eagles voluntary workouts last Monday. He had requested to be moved after Philadelphia traded up in the NFL Draft to select Carson Wentz.

Bradford’s holdout was all about attempting to create some stability for himself. He was advised by his agent Tom Condon to request a traded and wanted to go to a team where he could become “the man” and stay there for the rest of his career. Unfortunately for him, Bradford didn’t have much interest from teams and that dried up trade market is “partly” why he is back.

“There’s no promises in this business,” Bradford said. “It wasn’t a long-term deal, it was a two-year deal, I was well aware of that. My goal was to play well for the next two years and create that stability … Philadelphia is the place I wanted to be. I wanted to play well for the next two years, create that stability and then sign a longer term deal and stay here for the rest of my career.”

Head coach Doug Pederson again reiterated Tuesday when speaking to reporters that Bradford is the starting quarterback.

“Sam is still the starting quarterback. Carson has a long way to go in this system but he’s learning every day,” he said. “I expect Sam not to look over his shoulder. I expect him to look forward. That’s the message I gave to him. He’s the guy.”

Bradford and Wentz practiced together for the first time on Tuesday and Bradford commented on the quarterback competition.

Sam Bradford and Carson Wentz throwing side by side: https://t.co/0Tj2pLJypp

— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) May 17, 2016

“The competition is what it is,” Bradford said. “I think if I play at a high level each week on the field, if we continue to win games, I think I will be the starting quarterback and be out there. With that being said, I’m not completely naive … At some point it’s probably not going to be my team.”

You can view the entire Bradford press conference below.