The Cowboys might be the only thing Eagles fans hate more than Sam Bradford at this point. The former number one pick has made a lot of enemies in The City of Brotherly Love.
A lot has happened to the Eagles this year, let’s take a moment to catch up.
Jan. 18: The Eagles hire Doug Pederson as their new head coach.
March 1: Sam Bradford signs a two-year extension worth $36 million with $22 million guaranteed.
March 3: Pederson and the Eagles say the will still draft a quarterback.
March 9: The Eagles trade Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonso to the Dolphins while swapping first round picks. The Eagles now hold the number 8 pick overall.
April 20: The Eagles trade up with the Browns for the number 2 overall pick.
April 26: Bradford demands a trade and claims he will holdout.
April 28: The Eagles Pick Carson Wentz number 2 overall in the NFL Draft.
April 29: Pederson claims that Bradford knew all along that he would be tasked with grooming a rookie.
May 9: Bradford ends his holdout and returns to the team.
May 12: Wentz signs a four year, $26 million, rookie deal.
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The main narrative throughout this entire saga is that Sam needs to suck it up and be professional. He signed that hefty contract and now isn’t the time to throw a temper tantrum. If he’s that upset then give the Eagles that signing bonus back and be released.
I agree.
Before free agency commenced Sam and his agent knew that the market for him was slim and that his best option would be to sign a short-term deal with the Eagles and test his value in a year or two. Fair or not, Bradford should have known that the Eagles would pursue other avenues to find a quarterback. I’m usually pro-player but in this case, I’m going to have to side with the man.
Now the Eagles are in a tough situation. On the bright side, you have your future quarterback who seems to have all the tools necessary to succeed. The dark side is that Wentz needs some time to develop and his “mentor” doesn’t want anything to do with him.
Luckily, for the Eagles, they signed an insurance policy in Chase Daniel. The former Kansas City Chief followed Pederson to Philadelphia during free agency. He signed a three-year $21 million deal back in March making him one of the best paid backups in the league. In 2016, the Eagles will have to allocate roughly $22.3 million in quarterbacks alone. That easily ranks in the top ten of the NFL.
Those contracts have garnered a lot of criticism. Why pay both Bradford and Daniel so much money when neither one of them are the future of the team?
Situations like this, that’s why.
Yes, the Eagles are using about 15% of their cap space to pay quarterbacks but with a position of such importance, there’s no such thing as too many resources. The Eagles created a safety net by signing Daniel and it looks like they’ll need it. While Bradford is auditioning for a new team this season Daniel can groom and familiarize Wentz to Pederson’s West-Coast hybrid offense. He can be the bridge Bradford was expected to be. GM Howie Roseman had the foresight of taking a short term loss financially in order to build his franchise QB. A move that will either turn him into a legend or leave him searching Craigslist for a new job.
The QB drama in Philadelphia will be an interesting story to follow this season. What if Wentz lights it up during the preseason? What if Bradford is injured and Daniels is playing poorly? What if Bradford has a stellar year and leads this team to the playoffs? What if this team is .500 and Bradford is playing at his usual, average level?
I guess we’ll just have to tune in.
Make sure to follow me on Twitter, @mattgarrett41.
As always, thanks for reading.
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