http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer...-sam-bradford-eagles-qb-needs-to-quit-whining
Does anyone feel sorry for Sam Bradford? QB needs to quit whining
April 25, 2016 4:19 pm ET
Boy,
Sam Bradford's got it tough. If only this kid could catch a break.
You have to really feel for him, suddenly desperate for a trade but having virtually no trade value even before he starting whining and crying about leaving Philadelphia. I mean, there was scant interest in him as an impending free agent, and somehow he found it in his heart to accept $22 million guaranteed from the
Eagles with unrestricted free agency just days away. And now those heartless bastards in Philly have the indignity to trade up for the right to select, say, a quarterback project out of North Dakota State who may or may not be ready to start in 2017.
Of course, Eagles GM Howie Roseman also publicly declared Bradford as their Week 1 starter for this season. But how could they try to look after the long-term future of their franchise at the same time Big Game Bradford is already atop the depth chart? The temerity of it all! Aw, life isn't fair!
I'd throw a temper tantrum too, Sam.
I mean, how can Bradford not be irate when he, of his own volition, just two months ago, opted not to further test the free agent waters and signed a deal that will pay him $18 million this season and
possibly $36 million over two years? I mean, sure, this new guaranteed money will bring his career earnings to a cool $100 million since being the first-overall pick in 2010, but a dollar doesn't go as far as it used it. And, yeah, of all quarterbacks to enter the league since 2010, only
Matthew Stafford has made more coin, and despite never sniffing the playoffs in his life, and having a lifetime mark of 25-37-1. Yet after getting hurt yet again last season, Philadelphia was still willing to make him the eighth-highest compensated quarterback in the NFL for 2016. But I totally understand why he and agent Tom Condon would be all up in their feelings and angry over such inhospitable treatment.
Boo-(bleeping)-hoo.
Bradford will make $18 million this season in Philly. (USATSI)
Let's get a few things straight: If there was anything approximating a market for Bradford it was Condon's job to find it prior to the start of free agency. Newsflash -- no one was clamoring for him then, outside of Philadelphia, and no one is now.
If Denver or the Jets or Sam's buddy Chip Kelly out in San Francisco or whomever else (um, the Rams?) wanted Bradford, then Condon could have cashed in the huge money being thrown at marginal quarterbacks back in March. It was his job to gauge the market, and he and Bradford knew exactly what type of contract they were signing and what bargain they were making.
And they did indeed cash in. Back in Philadelphia. Where he would still be the starter, same as it always was. And, having just given Bradford an $11 million signing bonus, the Eagles would have to be even bigger fools trying to trade Bradford now than they were for signing him in the first place. Good luck dealing him even if they wanted to, because who is taking on Bradford now, especially now that he's wearing the malcontent crown?
Roseman already pulled off miracles in getting anything for
Byron Maxwell and
DeMarco Murray and their horrible contracts. Bradford's boondoggle of a deal makes those two look like relative bargains.
The Jets don't want him. And, being owed at least $11M million over the next two years, I'd be surprised if Denver wanted him. And who would give up anything of value for him? Especially at a time when droves of young, cheap quarterbacks are about to be selected in the draft in a few days.
Cheap labor is a coming, and unproductive. Often-hurt labor is not en vogue, even at the quarterback position. Because if it was, trust me, Bradford and Condon would have taken the more money wherever they could get it. This is business, folks, and that's why they ended up back in Philadelphia in the first place. Condon's agency represents
Brock Osweiler and
Ryan Fitzpatrick as well -- you don't think they had unique insight into the free agent quarterback class?
Please. Spare me.
It's beyond ludicrous to be asking for a trade now (takes some audacity from Condon after just willingly and eagerly agreeing to this deal not even two months ago), and this is a mess for all involved. Condon's reputation is above these kind of tactics, and one thing Bradford did always having going for him prior to all of this was an unimpeachable character and easy-to-root for persona.
“I can't believe Condon is actually doing this,” said one high-ranking team official. “I don't understand it at all. This is not the way he operates. Bradford needs to keep his mouth shut with all of the money he is being paid. It's not like he signed a long-term deal. At most it's a two-year deal. Come on, what were his expectations when he signed? He needs to shut up and show up and show he can play and try to set himself to get paid again somewhere else. He's going to skip mini-camp? Really? No one is going to come out of this looking good, now. Not them or the Eagles. The only way he can create a market for himself is by playing and playing well. Not by asking for a trade.”
The Eagles always should have transitioned Bradford, let him see what was or wasn't out there, and gone from there. This is not rehashing the past. This was my well-established stance back then. And, as I said back then, if after two weeks on the transition tag he didn't have any real money on the table, I would have yanked the offer, put two years, $15 million on the table and said take it or leave it. Instead, the Eagles rewarded him (for what, I'm really not sure) well beyond his worth, they made it clear that signing Bradford and
Chase Daniel did not take them out of the quarterback market in the draft, and they also made it clear it was Bradford's job even after making the trade.
Only, he's never had to fight for a job in his professional life, and even now, faced with the most middling of competition, he wants to take his ball and go home. He basically signed a huge one-year deal, and the Eagles are going to draft a kid they don't even expect to play anytime soon in Carson Wentz, and still this has Bradford and Condon all in a tizzy? Weaksauce.
Bradford might be better off playing well and keep his mouth shut.. (USATSI)
Lest you have forgotten Bradford's body of work in the NFL, let me refresh your memory.
The quarterback-deficient Rams, of all teams, decided to cut losses and finally peddle him on, after drafting him first-overall and paying him over $60 million (to the point where their desperation for a QB led them to now mortgage the future to move up from No. 15 to 1 for a far-from-sure-thing college kid, Jared Goff). They felt like
Nick Foles -- Nick freakin' Foles -- was less of a gamble at quarterback than Bradford. Oh, and Bradford has appeared in 21 of his team's last 48 regular season games.
As a further review, here is part of what I wrote back in early March, after the Eagles stuffed his pockets full of millions again:
“To give Bradford a 33 percent raise over his $13.5 million salary in 2015 (the final year of his bonus-baby rookie contract from the old CBA) in a year in which the team fell well below expectations and in which he ranked 26th in rating, 25th in yards per attempt and threw 19 touchdowns to 14 interceptions and tied for the fourth-most turnovers in the NFL is somewhat staggering to me. And many would argue this was Bradford's best NFL season. It is not an anomaly. Not like it was some down year. Since Bradford entered the league in 2010 as the first overall pick, here are his ranks among all NFL quarterbacks:
- 25th in completion percentage (60.1, about the same as Foles)
- 20th in yards (14,790)
- 36th in yards per attempt (6.45, right there with Matt Cassel and Mark Sanchez and Brandon Weeden)
- 21st in touchdowns (78)
- 35th in touchdown percentage (3.4, just above Christian Ponder)
- 18th in interceptions (52)
- 11th in interception percentage (2.3, so he is almost top 10 in something)
- 30th in quarterback rating (81.0, just behind Brian Hoyer and just ahead of Josh Freeman)"
How's this for gratitude? Buyer's remorse on a free-agent contract that was just negotiated. And now Sam and Tom want a do-over, only with the same bloated contract, that some other fool-hearty team would apparently be willing to absorb. If they want a trade, go ahead and give back a big chunk of that signing bonus to the Eagles and be willing to take an incentive-laden contract. Let's see that.
Because the reality is, even with Wentz on the roster, this is still one of the weakest starting quarterbacking situations in the NFL for 2016. Sure, maybe it's not as gift-wrapped as getting to battle it out with Mark Sanchez again might be (only this time in Denver), and yeah, I'm sure he'd prefer to take his chances against
Geno Smith in New York. But even poor Sam Bradford it seems can't have everything he wants, whenever he wants it.
What a pity.
