NBC on Yahoo SportsDoes an extension make sense for Sam Bradford and the Eagles?
The latest on Sam Bradford’s contract situation is about the same as it was when the Philadelphia Eagles traded for the sixth-year quarterback in March. That is to say there isn’t much of a latest at all. Albert Breer for the NFL Network reported that while the two sides are talking, no real progress has been made toward an extension.
Some may find it troubling that Chip Kelly traded Nick Foles and draft picks for a signal-caller who’s not only still recovering from knee surgery, but is also entering the final year of his deal. Among those critical of the head coach’s inaction on cementing Bradford’s future with the franchise is Andrew Brandt for The MMQB, who writes the ball is now squarely in the player’s court.
The lack of an extension accompanying the trade has given Bradford some leverage going forward, assuming he stays healthy. While I have agreed with most of the moves made by the Eagles, an extension for Bradford could have been negotiated as a trade contingency. The Eagles could have given themselves leverage, but that opportunity was lost.
From Brandt’s viewpoint, the primary reason the Eagles would be hesitant to extend Bradford at this stage is because they are still considering a trade, which sounds like pure poppycock. We’re six weeks away from training camp, and Kelly is going to shop his hopeful starter to go with Mark Sanchez, Matt Barkley or Tim Tebow under center instead?
The reality here is likely far more simple. Do the Eagles—or Bradford for that matter—really know the player’s true value in this case?
Keep in mind, part of the reason the St. Louis Rams were willing to dump Bradford in the first place was his unwillingness to take a pay cut. Bradford is set to earn nearly $13 million in 2015, the sixth-highest base salary of any quarterback in the league, according to Spotrac. Many would say that is a steep price to pay for a player with his body of work.
Is Bradford worth more or less than that? It’s difficult to say. Obviously, he thinks the same or more. The Eagles don’t necessarily think less, but committing vast sums of money to a player that carries the number and type of questions Bradford does is a dicey proposition. In the NFL, you can pay anybody anything for one year—it’s the future you have to budget for under the salary cap.
Mainly, it’s Bradford’s health everybody is so worried about. How do you hand any player an expensive, long-term contract when he’s played just seven games over the past two seasons? When his twice-repaired ACL still doesn’t even allow him to be a full participant in practice? Heck, at this point, there’s still discussion of Sanchez breaking the huddle for Philadelphia in Week 1.
Once Bradford does get back on the field, he has plenty to prove. Granted, much of his struggles as a member of the St. Louis Rams can be traced to the lack of a decent supporting cast, whether that’s in the way of weapons, protection or stability in the coaching staff. That being said, no matter how we look at it, Bradford is showing an 18-30-1 record as a starter and career 79.3 passer rating.
And Bradford is supposed to be the one with the leverage here? He’s probably fortunate to be making that $13 million.
If the Eagles were going to make Bradford an offer, it would likely be for less than he believes he’s worth. And if you’re in Bradford’s shoes, why wouldn’t you gamble that a year in Philadelphia’s prolific offense will increase your value? Virtually every offensive player who’s worked under Kelly has enjoyed a career year. Even just proving he can play 16 games would provide a boost in negotiations.
Naturally, there’s risk in that approach for Bradford, although there’s risk in signing a lowball offer and outplaying a new contract in Year 1, too. If he wasn’t willing to come down from $13 million a few months ago, there’s no reason to believe he’ll accept substandard money now.
Either way, there’s little risk in waiting from the Eagles’ end. If Bradford goes on to stay healthy and have the type of season many feel he’s capable of, it’s not as if the team would allow him to simply become a free agent. They would slap him with the franchise tag, limiting Bradford’s movement or preventing his departure altogether.
As Brandt writes, the franchise tag could pay Bradford as much as $20 million in 2016. Then again, he wouldn’t necessarily sign for that if the Eagles were willing to give him the security of a long-term extension at that point, which presumably they would, at market value.
And if Bradford isn’t healthy or struggles, the Eagles aren’t on the hook for anything next year. That doesn’t preclude the team from reaching a new deal with Bradford, either, it simply means they’re not stuck paying a guy a ton of money after he didn’t pan out.
The surprise isn’t that Bradford and the Eagles aren’t close on a deal. The surprise is there’s any hand-wringing over a contract situation in the first place.
Bradford, the former No. 1 overall draft pick and Rookie of the Year, isn’t going to accept any offer right this moment that doesn’t pay him among the upper-echelon of quarterbacks in the NFL—we’re talking multi-year deals that total in the hundreds of millions. The Eagles aren’t going to award a guy a blockbuster contract when he isn’t healthy and hasn’t played particularly stellar when he was on the field.
The good news is Bradford and the Eagles are talking, which means there’s legitimate interest in getting something done down the road, provided the partnership works out. However, it only makes sense for both sides to test the waters before taking the plunge.
