The wait is over, as the Philadelphia Eagles finally agreed to terms with quarterback Sam Bradford on a two-year extension. Bradford’s new deal, worth $36 million with $26 million in guaranteed money, has an interesting breakdown. It’s essentially a one-year deal, similar to the franchise tag, with a team option for the second season.
If the Eagles decide not to bring Bradford back for the 2017 season, they can release him before March 1st and they’ll owe $5.75 million, per Spotrac. They’ll need to pay a $4 million bonus if he is on the roster on March 1st, essentially one year from now. And if they did decide to cut him after March 1st, but before the start of the new year, the total cost, including the bonus, would be $9.75 million. Essentially, if Bradford is still on the roster in one year, he’s the quarterback for 2017.
So what does this new deal mean for the Eagles? And more importantly, how does it affect what the Eagles do at quarterback moving forward?
First, I’ll start by saying that even as a major anti Sam Bradford fan, I like the signing. I was paranoid that the Eagles would end up signing Bradford to a three or even four-year deal worth $60 to $80 million with $35 to $45 million in guaranteed money. He doesn’t deserve close to that kind of money, but that’s what the current market is for the game’s most important position. You don’t give a quarterback a two-year deal, with a big out after one year, if you think he’s a franchise guy. You do it because you’re scared of the unknown. It’s essentially an expensive stopgap option while the team looks for a better, likely cheaper option.
I give a lot of credit to general manager Howie Roseman for bringing back Bradford on a deal that can be voided after just one season. Bradford’s play in 2015, which was nothing special despite those final seven games heard ’round the world, doesn’t warrant multiple years as a locked-in starter, even for a team with no clear future at the quarterback position. He’s just not good enough. He never has been and he probably never will be.
I’ve gone on and on many times about my thoughts on Bradford, whose ceiling through his age-28 season has proven to be extremely low, and it’s almost impossible to envision a scenario where the Eagles win the Super Bowl with a middling veteran as their signal caller. It’s really difficult for me to even see the Eagles reaching the playoffs with Bradford. After all, this is a quarterback who has made 63 career starts and led his team to three straight wins one time. He’s never quarterbacked a team to 25 offensive points in consecutive games. He hasn’t thrown four touchdowns in a game or won Player of the Week. He’s shown no ability to elevate his teammates and he’s managed to miss 33 of a possible 96 games due to four different injuries.
Yet he’s also the best possible scenario for NEXT season, and only next season. The Eagles wouldn’t be able to compete with Mark Sanchez as their quarterback and Chase Daniel is nothing more than a very uninspiring veteran stopgap, if he could even earn a starting spot. That’s why while I still think the Eagles should have moved on from Bradford after a very mediocre 2015 season, I’m not completely discouraged that they gave the former Heisman winner one more season to prove that he can do anything above average at the quarterback position.
With the 13th pick in the first round of the draft, it makes a lot of sense for the Eagles to target one of the projected top quarterbacks: Jared Goff, Carson Wentz or Paxton Lynch. Realistically, there’s no chance that Goff or Wentz will still be on the board when the Eagles pick, barring something unforseen happening in the next eight weeks. There are a number of teams ahead of the Eagles who will target a quarterback, such as Cleveland (2) and San Francisco (7). Other possibilities include Dallas (4), Chicago (11) and New Orleans (12). And as we remember, the Eagles don’t have a second-round pick, so it might be first round or third round when it comes to the Eagles and a rookie quarterback, which could be the difference between a future starter and the next Nick Foles.
It’s a tough dilemma for the Eagles, who have been in quarterback purgatory for the last six seasons following the offseason trade of Donovan McNabb to the Washington Redskins. From Kevin Kolb to Michael Vick to Nick Foles to Mark Sanchez to Bradford, the Eagles have recycled through one mediocre quarterback after another in search of their next franchise playmaker.
If Bradford finally, finally, finally, after six seasons, puts everything together and reaches his full potential, which at this point is probably Alex Smith 2.0, he’ll be on the market for an extension again a year from now. But if he flames out, the Eagles can pull the trigger and ultimately end the failed Sam Bradford experiment after two seasons, no playoff appearances and almost $40 million.
