The Eagles Claim They Aren't Trading Sam Bradford, But Should They?

The Philadelphia Eagles signed Sam Bradford to a two-year deal for a reported $36 million this offseason. They also, soon after, signed Chase Daniel, who had worked with new head coach Doug Pederson in Kansas City, to a fairly large contract for a backup quarterback. The Daniel deal was for 3 years and $21 million.

At the time the team re-signed Bradford, Howie Roseman said this:

"“When you’re talking about a quarterback, there is no level that you won’t pay for a high performance for a quarterback,” Roseman told PFT Live. “In terms of the market and when you look at the options that are there to keep a player from free agency, whether it’s a franchise tag or transition tag, one-year deals, from our perspective we wanted to make sure it was more than a one-year deal so that we weren’t building our team just for this one year. “We’re trying to look at it over a period of time as we build this team. So it was very important for us to get a multi-year deal, a deal longer than one year, and this was an area right now where you’re in a vacuum. Free agency hasn’t started, able to come to a decision and for us, and for us it’s about what is best for the Philadelphia Eagles not necessarily what’s best around the league.” "

Those comments about there being no level that you won’t pay for a high performance for a quarterback are accurate, as the Eagles have now traded five picks to move up to #2 and get a quarterback in the draft. Now, though, they’ve paid a high level in free agency, to re-sign last year’s starter, and with draft capital, extending into the future.

I’ve seen some comparisons to what Seattle did when they had Tarvaris Jackson, signed Matt Flynn, and then drafted Russell Wilson in the third round. Hey, it worked out!

The difference is the investment. Flynn’s contract was a bad investment that is lost to history as a footnote because Russell Wilson was such a huge pickup. Seattle also didn’t trade away all their picks, so that they couldn’t draft other players around Wilson.

Sam Bradford was reportedly “hot” after the trade was made. He’s seen the team sign Daniel and now trade away a lot of picks to draft the next great thing at QB.

It might make sense to explore a trade, but the early word out is that the Eagles are keeping Bradford.

According to Ian Rapoport, “this rookie quarterback does not have to play for a year, or two years.”

That may be true, but for many of the same reasons that teams seem to be willing to pay more for rookie quarterbacks now (the cheap salary for the first four years), the value is diminished if they don’t actually play when so cheap. Further, it becomes riskier if you haven’t given them enough starts to evaluate whether you want to extend them beyond the initial rookie deal.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with sitting a rookie QB, even a highly drafted one, even though patience usually wanes with time. You’ll hear people cite Philip Rivers or Steve McNair. But those two, in addition to Carson Palmer, are the positives. Todd Blackledge, Rich Campbell, Jake Locker, Jamarcus Russell, Jack Thompson, and Akili Smith are all guys that played very little as rookies, behind veterans.

But my issue would be, why both Bradford and Daniel, with the rookie at third string? That seems excessive, especially when now might be the time to sell. Daniel knows the new coach’s system, and would seem the perfect caretaker to start this season’s opener. You’ll hear “if Bradford plays well, you can trade him” which seems to presuppose a lot of things. Bradford hasn’t exactly been Mr. Consistent or Mr. Healthy. If the market is there, despite the early indications, I think you have to play musical chairs with the Broncos and Jets and try to get back a pick, and maybe another conditional one, from what you just gave up.