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Peter King on the Trade:
http://mmqb.si.com/2015/03/11/jameis-winston-roger-goodell-nfl-trades-free-agency-retirement/5/
The Rams-Eagles trade will take a long time to figure out. The deal no one saw coming was Sam Bradford and a fifth-round pick in 2015 for Nick Foles, a fourth-round pick in 2015 and a second-round pick in 2016. The Rams had multiple trade options for Bradford, who has had two straight seasons ended with ACL tears to his left knee, but by Monday they were focused on Philadelphia because the Eagles had something that no other involved team would offer—a potential starting quarterback in Foles.
“Chip came hard after Bradford,” an NFL insider said. “That’s why this happened.”
What I was told reliably Tuesday night: Philadelphia coach/power-czar Chip Kelly loves Bradford, feels Bradford’s the right guy to run his fast-paced offense, and this from an insider on the trade of the day: “Chip came hard after Bradford. That’s why this happened.” I know many of you think this is some sort of precursor to Kelly stockpiling weaponry to chase Marcus Mariota in the first round of the draft, but I don’t think so. There aren’t a lot of GMs in the league who would think Bradford is clearly better than Foles. So to trade up for Mariota, from where the Eagles sit at 20, would take first-round picks this year and next year, the second-round pick this year, Bradford, and probably more. That assumes the Titans or Jets actually want the risky Bradford and would sacrifice dealing down to number 20 this year in the process. I don’t see it. It’s far more likely that, as my source says, Kelly is smitten with Bradford, who ran a fast-paced offense at Oklahoma his final season even though he is more suited to a classic NFL scheme.
Two other points to be made here: I can tell you with certainty that this was not a trade made to punish Bradford for not re-doing his contract. Bradford was owed $13 million this year, and the Rams certainly wanted him to take a major pay cut to stay, after he gave them precious little in the past two seasons. I also can tell you that, even if Bradford had agreed to slash his salary before the weekend, the Rams still would have made this trade. They like this trade. They like Foles’ potential, they like the fact that they picked up a 2016 second-rounder, and through no fault of his own they’d lost faith in Bradford. No matter what they said, they just had no faith that Bradford could stay upright for 16 games.
As for Kelly, he now is under heavy, heavy pressure. No one truly buys that Bradford is a franchise quarterback. He may be, but he certainly isn’t now. He’s missed 39 of 80 possible NFL starts due to injury, he’s a 58.6 percent passer, and his passer rating is a feeble 79.3. He’s been hurt in fluky ways, but life for an NFL player starts with showing up, and Bradford hasn’t been good at that. If he either doesn’t play well or goes down by Columbus Day with another injury, it’s going to be very tough for Kelly to take the broadsides that will come his way in a tough NFL city.
http://mmqb.si.com/2015/03/11/jameis-winston-roger-goodell-nfl-trades-free-agency-retirement/5/
The Rams-Eagles trade will take a long time to figure out. The deal no one saw coming was Sam Bradford and a fifth-round pick in 2015 for Nick Foles, a fourth-round pick in 2015 and a second-round pick in 2016. The Rams had multiple trade options for Bradford, who has had two straight seasons ended with ACL tears to his left knee, but by Monday they were focused on Philadelphia because the Eagles had something that no other involved team would offer—a potential starting quarterback in Foles.
“Chip came hard after Bradford,” an NFL insider said. “That’s why this happened.”
What I was told reliably Tuesday night: Philadelphia coach/power-czar Chip Kelly loves Bradford, feels Bradford’s the right guy to run his fast-paced offense, and this from an insider on the trade of the day: “Chip came hard after Bradford. That’s why this happened.” I know many of you think this is some sort of precursor to Kelly stockpiling weaponry to chase Marcus Mariota in the first round of the draft, but I don’t think so. There aren’t a lot of GMs in the league who would think Bradford is clearly better than Foles. So to trade up for Mariota, from where the Eagles sit at 20, would take first-round picks this year and next year, the second-round pick this year, Bradford, and probably more. That assumes the Titans or Jets actually want the risky Bradford and would sacrifice dealing down to number 20 this year in the process. I don’t see it. It’s far more likely that, as my source says, Kelly is smitten with Bradford, who ran a fast-paced offense at Oklahoma his final season even though he is more suited to a classic NFL scheme.
Two other points to be made here: I can tell you with certainty that this was not a trade made to punish Bradford for not re-doing his contract. Bradford was owed $13 million this year, and the Rams certainly wanted him to take a major pay cut to stay, after he gave them precious little in the past two seasons. I also can tell you that, even if Bradford had agreed to slash his salary before the weekend, the Rams still would have made this trade. They like this trade. They like Foles’ potential, they like the fact that they picked up a 2016 second-rounder, and through no fault of his own they’d lost faith in Bradford. No matter what they said, they just had no faith that Bradford could stay upright for 16 games.
As for Kelly, he now is under heavy, heavy pressure. No one truly buys that Bradford is a franchise quarterback. He may be, but he certainly isn’t now. He’s missed 39 of 80 possible NFL starts due to injury, he’s a 58.6 percent passer, and his passer rating is a feeble 79.3. He’s been hurt in fluky ways, but life for an NFL player starts with showing up, and Bradford hasn’t been good at that. If he either doesn’t play well or goes down by Columbus Day with another injury, it’s going to be very tough for Kelly to take the broadsides that will come his way in a tough NFL city.
