Adrian Fedkiw
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson remained adamant all offseason that Sam Bradford was “his guy” and would be the starting quarterback heading into the season opener against the Cleveland Browns.
So much for that, Howie Roseman received an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“This was not our blueprint, this was not part of the plan,” Roseman said in his press conference. “We have to be flexible and we have to be able to take advantage of opportunities that give us an opportunity to get where we want to be … We’re trying to get that trophy and to do that, sometimes you have to do things like this that aren’t easy to do a week before the season starts.”
It was a no-brainer, he had to pull the trigger.
I’m shocked, everybody’s shocked. NOBODY thought the Minnesota Vikings would get this desperate, to not only send a first-round pick, but a fourth-rounder as well for Bradford. That fourth can also turn into a third if the Vikings reach the NFC Championship Game and a second if they win the Super Bowl.
“In terms of balancing today and the future, it was the right move for us,” Roseman said.
That it was.
Let’s recap that trade to get up to No. 2 and take Carson Wentz in the NFL Draft for a second. The Eagles sent their eighth overall, third round (77th overall) and fourth round (100) picks in 2016 along with a 2017 first-rounder and 2018 second-rounder to Cleveland for that No. 2 and a 2017 fourth rounder.
Philly just got its first rounder back, although it might be a lower pick with the Vikings, who are considered by many to potentially be playoff-bound. At least the “Eagles don’t have a first-round pick with the draft coming to Philly” jokes can stop.
Roseman admitted that the Eagles didn’t make any calls and when they received one initially, there wasn’t “strong consideration”, but after sitting down and talking about it, Philadelphia felt like it was a “good opportunity.”
“We felt like it was a good opportunity for both teams,” Roseman said. “In their situation and the football team that they have, that it was a good opportunity for them to get a quarterback of Sam’s caliber. At the same time, we felt like in the situation that we were and how our depth chart looked going forward, by adding these picks and getting that cap room to put back into our football team.”
According to Over the Cap, the Eagles saved $1.5 million against the 2016 cap with the trade, with $11 million being dead money. Bradford’s cap number for next year would’ve been $22.5 million.
How will the trade affect the locker room considering the Eagles appeared to have gotten worse on paper heading into 2016? Roseman delved into that.
“Our job is to try to build something great and I also think it would be a discredit to our veteran players, really our whole football team, to discount them and the effort that they have give us. We have a lot of talented players on this roster, at the same time we’re trying to build something great. We have an opportunity with this to get back into the first round of the 2017 draft, to get a pick in 2018 that we thought was important and utilize that cash and cap space to improve the team in other areas that we didn’t have prior to this week,” he said.
So does this mean Wentz is is now the starter? Roseman wouldn’t go that far, although a report stated he would start in the opener next Sunday afternoon against the Cleveland Browns if healthy.
“The coaches are all out of the office, they’ll be back today in terms of who we’re going to be playing this week, that’s a coaches decision,” Roseman said.
Roseman did acknowledge that Wentz “has come a long way since April.”
Bradford is reportedly “thrilled” about the trade and Minnesota is certainly the best team he’s ever played for. Heading into his seventh season, Bradford has never made the playoffs and that might change.
As for the Vikings, why would they make this swap?
It actually makes sense, although Vikings general manager Rick Spielman stated earlier this week that Minnesota wouldn’t “jeopardize the future of the franchise” to find a quarterback for the injured Teddy Bridgewater.
“People are asking for some crazy things. People think that you are desperate, and we are not going to do something that in my estimation, and talking with Coach Zim (Mike Zimmer) and our ownership, that puts us in a situation where we jeopardize the future of this franchise,” he said.
Giving up a first alone for Bradford is desperate, but I wouldn’t go so far to say that it jeopardizes the future.
Adrian Peterson isn’t getting any younger and is on the wrong side of the 30. The window is closing for him. Zimmer has also built a stout defense that features, in my opinion, the most underrated defensive line in the NFL led by defensive end Everson Griffen and defensive tackles Linval Joseph and Sharrif Floyd. Anthony Barr is on the cusp of becoming a star at linebacker and cornerback Xavier Rhodes and safety Harrison Smith highlight a solid secondary.
The Vikings are ready to win now.
And if they get far enough, the Eagles would reap some rewards.
You can view the press conference below.