He Caved

Posted: May 10th, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 121 Comments »

Sam Bradford changed his mind and reported to the NovaCare Complex on Monday. I wonder what made him do that? Did he talk to someone who offered new perspective? Did he have a drug-induced revelation? Did he see the light on the way to Damascus (or Delaware)?

No. Reality set in.

Sammy had no real choices. He could have retired. But that would have cost him precious time and money. He could have waited for the state of Oklahoma to form its own league, where he would lead the Oklahoma Awesomes to 3 straight championships. Or he could suck it up and come back to the Eagles.

Bingo.

Sammy badly misplayed his hand. He didn’t get what he wanted and now he has to deal with the fallout from those actions. The good news here is that Sammy quit being an idiot soon enough that no real damage was done internally. He missed one week of voluntary activities. The coaches can live with that. They are happy to have their veteran QB return.

Teammates will give Sammy a hard time for a bit, but most will forgive him the first time he hits Zach Ertz down the seam with a tight spiral. In the end, players want to win. Chase Daniel is the plucky underdog and knows the offense better than anyone on the team. Carson Wentz is super talented and the future of the franchise. But the QB who gives the Eagles the best chance to win games right now is Sammy.

Here is a statement from Bradford:

“I’m excited to be back on the field today with my teammates and coaches. The business side of football is sometimes a necessary consideration. My attention and efforts are focused on the participation in and preparation for a championship season: I am committed to my teammates and the Eagles organization for nothing less.”

So I guess we’re going to win the Super Bowl. That would be cool.

*****

Les Bowen offered his take on the situation and made some great points.

As we go forward, every interaction between Bradford and Wentz is going to be scrutinized endlessly. Everything Wentz says is going to be deconstructed to highlight any differences between his personality and Bradford’s, or any implicit criticisms of Bradford. We’ve already seen this dynamic at work, when Wentz was asked about quarterbacks he admired and he (gasp!) didn’t include Bradford.

Everything Bradford says will be parsed for digs at management, Pederson, or Wentz. Every Bradford incomplete pass, every stalled drive, will bring grumbles from the stands.

To an extent, all of this was on tap even before the trade request. But now, with agent Tom Condon having proclaimed that Bradford “doesn’t view himself as a stopgap quarterback . . . He doesn’t want to be there holding a placecard, and then wondering where he’s going to go at the end of the year,” the microscope will zoom in much tighter.

Boy is Les right about that. Bradford will be living under a microscope. QBs in Philly get a lot of scrutiny on a good day, but he’s about to deal with a level of scrutiny that will make his life fairly miserable. Bradford can work his way out of that by playing at a very high level, but anything less and he’ll be answering utterly inane questions all season long.

And…

The hand played by Bradford and Condon seems to have held some lukewarm Broncos interest, and . . . uh, nothing. Condon didn’t have a trade in his back pocket. Bradford, owed $18 million this season, wasn’t willing to sit out long term. And if he had been, it’s hard to see how some team picking him up late in the process, months from now, would present a better opportunity for Bradford’s future than could be forged by playing well as the undisputed 2016 starter here.

Yet, in a podcast interview with former agent and Eagles executive Andrew Brandt recorded on April 28, Condon openly questioned how much clout Bradford will have with his teammates and predicted he would only be the starter “until the rookie is ready to go.”

Just what you’d want your agent to say on your behalf in such a circumstance, no doubt. Yet Bradford continues to let Condon shape how he is viewed.

Finessing the minefield that lies ahead with the Eagles and Wentz is going to take a lot of savvy, thoughtful navigation by Bradford – a guy who two weeks ago decided the best way to get around a roadblock was to drive his career into a tree.

I don’t know who is at fault more, Bradford or Condon. I get that Bradford wanted to go to Denver. That’s closer to home and is more his type of place to live. The Broncos are the reigning Super Bowl champs. But you can’t hope your way there. You have to know for a fact they’ll make a move. Howie Roseman wasn’t going to just hand over a starting QB for nothing. Condon had to work the phones and do a better job of feeling out that situation.

Either Condon was giving bad advice or Bradford was being ridiculously obstinate. That’s over now and it is humble pie time.

Don’t just nibble. Dig in and eat the whole damn thing.

_


121 Comments on “He Caved”

  1. 1 He Caved - said at 11:39 AM on May 10th, 2016:

    […] Tommy Lawlor Sam Bradford changed his mind and reported to the NovaCare Complex on Monday. I wonder what made […]

  2. 2 Aaron said at 11:49 AM on May 10th, 2016:

    first

  3. 3 Buge Halls said at 8:52 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Just stop

  4. 4 Donald Kalinowski said at 12:07 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Bradford made the trade request publicly to force the Eagles hand in trading him to the Broncos. It would have been a good situation for Bradford. The Broncos dodnt want to pay the price the Eagles were asking for and this was his only hand being traded to Denver. I don’t blame him. This is a business.

    It’s obvious he doesn’t have much of a future in Philadelphia. You can’t fault him for wanting out.

  5. 5 Gian GEAGLE said at 12:54 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Exactly,, I don’t like what he did as a fan, mostly because I thought it was a fools errand that was never going to work out the way he wanted. But I understand the WHY behind it, and im thrilled to have him back, and most important im appreciative that he only missed a week of work and came back early in the offseason with plenty of time to prepare for a successful season

  6. 6 wee2424 said at 11:03 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    The thing that people are mad about is the fact that everyone and their mother knew how the Birds viewed him. Simply as a stop gap QB. The contract that he and his agent agreed to screamed stop gap.

    The claim that he thought the Birds viewed him as their guy is BS. He couldn’t have truly thought that. No knowledgeable football fan/intelligent person thought that. I don’t think he cares so much about how he is viewed, but more about the fact that he just doesn’t want to be challenged, and despite his mediocre history be the starting QB by default.

    The common theme by him, his agent, and his supporters is that Wentz will automatically be a starter sooner then later because his draft status. At a quick glance that makes sense. If you think deeper into it you realize that it is not as automatic as you may initially think.

    How many times has we seen higher rated QB prospects fall flat on their face coming out of the NFL? Way to often.

    If Bradford were to play at a high level and Wentz flops for 2 years or only shows minimal promise do you think the Eagles would not resign Bradford and keep their more then probable bust?

    I am not saying this is scenario that i think will happen. I like Wentz,and i think he will be a good QB for us. I am just saying that if you look at history you will see that this is a very real possibility.

    Bradford just doesn’t seem to have it in him to truly prove himself and assist in this scenario happening.

  7. 7 Cafone said at 12:11 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    I think it will all blow over rather quickly by Philadelphia standards. First of all, Sam is boring. He’s not someone who is going to give the drama mongers in the Philly sports media much to work with. Secondly, he’s a placeholder quarterback so fans really don’t care much what he thinks. He is there, as Condon put it, holding a placecard. And lastly, everyone is rooting for him because the better he plays, the better the chance that Howie is able to get some value in a trade after this season.

  8. 8 wee2424 said at 11:45 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    As far as the trade part, when you think of how the majority of Eagles fans are I think if he slightly falters they will want him to fall flat on his face. There will be some animosity from a large portion of fans. Furthermore the average fan base is very impatient, and the correlation of Bradford performing poorly and Wentz playing sooner is there.

    Again the average fan base does not have a lot of patience.Their thoughts on his future trade value will be overridden by rather seeing our large investment (Wentz) play as soon as possible.

    We ARE NOT the average fan. We think on a more long term and in depth way about the team.

    The average or dissatisfied portion of the fan base is always the most noticed/heard, simply because there are more of them and they are louder.

    It is not like Bradford was a fan favorite amongst fans before this episode.

  9. 9 Cafone said at 12:14 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Tommy, one thing you said I’m not sure about: “Condon had to work the phones and do a better job of feeling out that situation.”

    Condon wasn’t allowed to work the phones, was he? Bradford is under contract. If Condon was talking to other teams about him it would have been tampering, right?

  10. 10 Dave said at 12:22 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    I believe Condon (or any agent) can talk to anyone at any time (player, team, coach, etc.); however, a team cannot talk to a player on another team without getting permission by the team that holds his rights.

  11. 11 wee2424 said at 11:54 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Yes, he was absolutely allowed to work the phones. Eagles granted the ability for him to do so, but their asking price was very high. They did not necessarily want to trade him so the finding of the trade partners was on another team contacting the Birds/agent or Condon contacting other teams and presenting the deal to the FO for them to approve.

    The Birds want him on the roster. Why would they waste their resources and time to shop him when they dont really want to lose him? It is Bradford and Condon that want the trade therefore they are mostly responsible for finding the suitable partner.

    It is different then a team shopping a player and contacting teams to try and make that trade happen.

  12. 12 Dave said at 12:15 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    I fixed the actual text Les wanted to write:

    As we go forward, I am going to endlessly scrutinize every interaction between Bradford and Wentz is going to be scrutinized endlessly. I am going to deconstruct eEverything Wentz says is going to be deconstructed to highlight any differences between his personality and Bradford’s, or any implicit criticisms of Bradford. We’ve already seen this dynamic at work, when Wentz was asked about quarterbacks he admired and he (gasp!) didn’t include Bradford.

    Everything Bradford says will be parsed by me for digs at management, Pederson, or Wentz. Every Bradford incomplete pass, every stalled drive, will bring grumbles from the stands and I will write about that.

    To an extent, all of this was on tap even before the trade request. But now, with agent Tom Condon having proclaimed that Bradford “doesn’t view himself as a stopgap quarterback . . . He doesn’t want to be there holding a placecard, and then wondering where he’s going to go at the end of the year,” the microscope will zoom in much tighter in all my articles and interviews.

  13. 13 Gian GEAGLE said at 12:52 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    This should be the first Iggleblitz post to recieve 100 Recs..

  14. 14 izzylangfan said at 12:57 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Thank you for taking Les to task. The journalism at philly.com and nj.com all to often leans toward the obvious and the petty. Perhaps Les Bowen is a touch better than some of the others – I think Jeff McClain is the worst. But your criticism is right on point here.

  15. 15 RobNE said at 1:16 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    nice job

  16. 16 Bullwinkle said at 3:10 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    You are 100% correct. Professionalism has gone out the window and has been replaced by the National Enquirer/reality TV approach. I would not be surprised if the players have more respect for Bradford than they do Eagles management. Employees inherently don’t trust management, often times for good reason.

  17. 17 Sean Stott said at 12:17 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    -I think the Broncos made a mistake by not offering more to get Bradford. Now their season rests on the butt fumble/rookie.

    -I can’t wait to boo Sam Bradford

    -When is Cox gonna get signed wtf

  18. 18 Dan in Philly said at 12:18 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    He should discuss with Mitch Williams how to win the respect of Philadelphia fans: take the shit with a grin and keep on trucking. Eventually even the toughest of the critics will give you credit for it.

  19. 19 Gian GEAGLE said at 12:50 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    If he plays well it will be a non issue…. But any QB who plays like crap won’t have a pleasant time in philly

    Think Bradford can help himself out a ton by getting off to a good start, smacking cleveland around week 1, get us off to like a 3-1 start, and most will be forgiven… Fortunately he came to his senses,only missed a week of work, so he has plenty of time to learn the offense, and work to put himself in position to get off to a good start in September.
    ..
    If Sam plays like crap and gets off to a slow start, and we go 1-3 to start the season, he is going to really hear it

  20. 20 miked718 said at 12:55 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Seriously great advice. Smile, laugh at yourself, even go on local radio or TV and make fun of yourself publically. It’ll all be forgotten. Pout and make sour faces and you will get chewed up and spit out.

  21. 21 Gian GEAGLE said at 1:01 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Bradfords personality is going to help him endure this. He won’t say anything to fan the flames
    ..
    The media is going to try and ask a bunch of questions tor try and instigate a reaction from him… But after a while of getting nowhere with Sam continuing to give them boring, PC answers, it should die down
    ..
    I think only a small percentage of fans will hold this against him into the season

  22. 22 Mike Cappelli said at 12:23 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    lol, Oklahoma Awesomes. The article became a winner right there.

  23. 23 A Roy said at 1:02 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Although to be honest, with Bradford on the team, they’d have to change their name to the Oklahoma Okays.

  24. 24 Mac said at 1:04 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    “Best of what’s left” might work.

  25. 25 b3nz0z said at 1:07 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    brokelahoma

  26. 26 ChoTime said at 1:09 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    The Oklahoma Wrathful Grapes

  27. 27 izzylangfan said at 12:37 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Yes, Bradford caved soon enough to minimize the damage. But the damage is that everyone knows that Bradford made a business decision without regard to his recent contract, his word as a man, his team, and his fans. His only justification was that it might have been good for him if it worked. But his logic was soggy given that the Eagles already overpaid in the absence of any significant market for his services. His hope was that the frugal Broncos who already refused to pay a market rate for the better Ostwiler, would somehow pay a higher salary and a draft pick for Bradford.

    True, all would be forgiven if Bradford plays at an elite level. Good luck with that!

  28. 28 Gian GEAGLE said at 12:42 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Condon/Sams only move was to make enough noise to try and force Roseman to take some lowball offer from Denver. Simple as that… And since it’s known that Elways contacted Roseman, obviously Condon was right that denver was interested.. The problem was that Condon also learned how underwhelming the market for SAM was this offseason. clearly Denver had some interest, but it was limited interest, trying to pry Bradford away with some low ball offer.. So Condon’s only hope was create drama and hope that Roseman accepts some lowball offer from denver
    ..
    If Denver was All IN on Bradford, to the point where they would make an enticing, aggressive offer for Bradford, then Condon would have never had to go public with this drama, and could have worked behind the scenes with ELWAY and Denver to get a deal done that works for both sides behind closed doors instead of playing it out in the Media. But Clearly, Denver was interested, but they weren’t interested enough to give up anything significant like what KC paid for Alex Smith, or Arizona played for Palmer. Condon is no dummy, and knew some 5th round pick Wasnt going to work for Roseman after Bradford cashed a signing bonus check two months ago, so bradford only had 1 move: Take advantage of the timing of draft week, to make enough noise, create enough drama, in hopes that Roseman would grant him his wish, send him to Denver for what little compensation ELWAY was willing to give up…… Roseman was smart enough to dig in, knowing that every bit of leverage they had would Dissapear sunday morning after the draft…
    ..
    I thought Sunday morning(day after Draft), Camp Bradford would wake up, realize they had no other cards to play, And Ultimately join the team within the next 7 days(post draft)… I was off by 1’day…
    ..
    As a fan, obviously I would prefer not having to go thru this, but I do understand the method behind Sam’s madness. I didn’t think it would work for him, but im glad that he came to his senses sooner rather than later,,, as a Fan, it’s not in my best interest to treat Braford like shit all year, and enjoy watching the city try to make him uncomfortable. I endured two shitty seasons since our playoff loss to the saints, and it’s clearly in my best interest to support the player that gives me the best chance of enjoying the 2016 season..and the ignorant fans who want to trash him every step of the way, and get on him any time he has a minor struggle are morons… It’s in our best interest to see SAM hopefully have a career year. Not just so we can have a decent season, but just as important, we need SAM to increase his trade Value in hopes that we can eventually move him and recoup some of our lost draft picks from the Next two drafts. At this time, Bradford is also WHATS best for developing young weapons that we wjll need to continue improving: ERTZ, Agholar, Jordan and the knucklhead Josh Huff.
    ..
    Les Bowan is right about being under a microscope, but that’s typically life as an Eagle QB… Before we acquired Wentz, Bradford signed a prove it deal, and we would be looking to see him earn a LongTerm extension, so no matter that we drafted Wentz, or his agent made,him look weak in the media, Bradford always was going to spend this year scrutinized under a microscope… Hopefully some of our trashy FANBASE wises up and realizes that it’s not in our best interest to try and make SAM uncomfortable all year and get on him every time he in completes a pass….. Now if he plays like crap, it’s Fair game just like it is for any Eagle QB

  29. 29 RobNE said at 1:15 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    thank god it was Howie and not Chip

  30. 30 b3nz0z said at 3:09 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    can you imagine the nj.com article about Bradford’s gang connections?! Sam Bloodford

  31. 31 Gian GEAGLE said at 6:20 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    When I picture SAM gangbanging, the picture that comes to mind is “B-Rad” from Malibu’s most wanted (Jamie Kenedy)

    Oklahoma crips…. What set you claim fool? I can see Sammy Sleeves crip walking…. Alter ego “$am Dollaz”,..
    ..

  32. 32 Gian GEAGLE said at 4:54 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    True that

  33. 33 ChoTime said at 12:44 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    I wonder if fans will now start giving Bradford $hit for all the drops and screwups his WRs are going to make this season. Lost in the general dismal performance of the O last year was that none of the individual units may be any good!

  34. 34 b3nz0z said at 1:05 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    it wasn’t that lost . . . we all know the receivers can’t look like that again.

  35. 35 ChoTime said at 1:09 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Or OL, or RB.

  36. 36 b3nz0z said at 1:13 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    and they worked pretty hard on the o-line.

  37. 37 ChoTime said at 1:18 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    You think a couple of mid-round rookies are going to help the OL this year? Just curious.

  38. 38 b3nz0z said at 1:47 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    my main point isn’t that they fixed it, but that they addressed it which shows that it’s understood that last year wasn’t ok. but point two would be that we didn’t just add in the draft – we got brandon brooks and at least one other dude through FA. brooks is gonna start so that’s at least one upgrade right there. so point three is that even if none of the others crack the starting lineup, our depth is improved.

  39. 39 b3nz0z said at 1:50 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    i guess my hope is that a year of experience for the wideouts plus slight upgrades to starting line and depth of OL, plus sam in the same place for another year with competition breathing down his neck, plus no stupid Chip calling his “bread and butter” until i wanna die MIGHT = all around more effective offense. not world beater status, but at least watchable.

  40. 40 eagleyankfan said at 2:15 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Guess I’m a little more upbeat about the moves this year. Eagles addressed spots in FA and defined weakness were addressed during the draft. Team was a bit hand cuffed with lack of picks but seemed to make the best of them. Nobody can predict what JM/Huff/Aggie can do this year(although, I have my own doubts about Huff) but WR wasn’t a dire need this year. Seemed like every weakness discussed here (ol/lb/safety/corners) all were addressed the best they could. Not to mention, they got their Franchise QB(whether he pans out or they paid to much for him is a different story). Compare to last year, this team is headed in the right direction. Can’t address every position every off season….

  41. 41 b3nz0z said at 2:31 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    if huff can become even a decent WR4 i’ll be happy with his growth. i’m hoping that ags will take the sophomore leap but who knows . . . let’s hope reuben randle can contribute as the 3

  42. 42 eagleyankfan said at 2:35 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    I’d like for the kid from Oregon be Huff’s biggest threat. If Pederson is looking for flexibility in players, that kid can be rb/wr/KOR(big jump for that kid going from college to nfl). Going to be a great camp battle. Huff does have the nfl experience that should give him the edge…

  43. 43 b3nz0z said at 2:48 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh duck bias!

  44. 44 eagleyankfan said at 3:04 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    I’m really OregonDuck (was that his name?)

  45. 45 b3nz0z said at 3:07 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    i couldn’t believe some of those people left the bandwagon to follow chip.

  46. 46 ChoTime said at 1:57 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Man, I must have missed a week because I never even picked up on the Brooks signing. Yeah, getting a new starter counts an an upgrade. Peters and Kelce are still big question marks in my mind–they have played anywhere from All-Pro to scrub-level at times.

    But my point wasn’t to criticize the FO but to point out that there is at least the possibility that the talent just isn’t there, that QB, OL, and WR are all sub-standard units. Thus, the 26th in Offense DVOA might not change much.

    Last year, the O sucked, but Chip still ran pace, multiplying the effect of bad offense. If Coach P at least slows things down, he can lean on the defense and maybe get some decent results, win-wise.

  47. 47 b3nz0z said at 2:02 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    totally agree with those points. going into this offseason we had maybe 2 positions on O-line that were good to go. now we’ve got 3 i feel ok about, and an injury wouldn’t be as horrid as it could have been without the new depth.

  48. 48 Dude said at 2:16 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    They did bring in a few starting caliber free agents too…

    EDIT: oops, that has already been addressed.

  49. 49 Gian GEAGLE said at 6:36 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Givens and Randle is a significant upgrade over Coop and Austin.
    ..
    cant expect Jordan, Nelson And Huff to be the same players they were last year. If hard working young players don’t improve, there is something seriously wrong.
    ..
    I expect Jordan Mathews to look like one of our most improved players in year 3, and Agholar should be drastically better than last year…. The X Factor is Huff. Not sure what to expect from him. nelson and Jordan are all about their craft, they travel around during the offseason to work on their craft with some of the best in the business, learning from players more successful than them… Huff on the other hand is a Mystery to me. josh is Married already, is he willing to travel in the offseason, work on his craft with some of the best in the business?… It also weird to me that so rarely do you hear Jordan talk about Huff, yet often Jordan talks about how talemted Nelson is and what a bright future he has. How hard nelson works, but it’s rare that you hear jordan talk about huff łet alone Rave about Huff like jordan does about plenty of his other teammates..

  50. 50 P_P_K said at 12:57 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    “The good news here is that Sammy quit being an idiot soon enough that no real damage was done…”

    Wish I was more like that.

  51. 51 Gary Barnes said at 1:36 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    His teammates do not care, they all know the business side of the game and almost never get on teammates for trying to get as much as they can or making moves to get into the best situation. Like you said, all they care about is winning games and Bradford gives them the best chance to do that. The concept of “losing the locker room” is a red herring.

    The coaches and mgmt are a different story, but again Bradford already knows the deck is stacked against him here and the competition is not real. When Wentz is ready, he will play regardless of what Bradford does or says. If the Eagles did NOT operate that way, they would be stone cold morons for investing as much as they did in Wentz. They need to capture the ROI on their deals and the only way to do that is to play him.

    The Eagles chose to bring Bradford back so they must have known or should have that this reaction could have happened – many are willing to give Bradford all the blame while letting the Eagles slide, but Bradford is not the one who has invested close to $60M in the QB position and left other critical positions in a weaker state. Bradford made a big mistake by not taking the long term deal when offered when Chip was still in control and for demanding a trade publicly – no doubt.

    We’ll see what happens, but the Eagles better be right or it is them who should be criticized.

  52. 52 anon said at 1:42 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    “Bradford made a big mistake by not taking the long term deal when offered when Chip was still in control” who knows what that deal looked like, they had Maclin playing on $5m which undoubtedly led to him wanting top of the market pay afterward

  53. 53 Gian GEAGLE said at 5:05 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    In fairness the rumor about him being offered an extension hasnt even come close to being verified. When Sam was asked about it, he seemed like he Genuinly never heard anything about it.. Because Sam reacted that way, I would have expected some reporter to dig around and verify the extension offer to try and catch Bradford in a lie, and that never Happened either.
    ..
    And knowing how Chip proved to be such a novice GM, it would not be that surprising if we found out that indeed Chip was dumb enough to do that trade without trying to get Bradford to sigń an extension. Most GMs with a clue wouldnt even pull the trigger on a trade like that unless Bradford agreed to sign an extension

  54. 54 eagleyankfan said at 1:57 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    I don’t agree with “The Eagles chose to bring Bradford back so they must have known or should have that this reaction could have happened ” … There is no way the Eagles knew they could get to number 2 at the time of signing Bradford. Bradford was the only one who didn’t understand he was a bridge QB by signing the 2 years. Whether is was this year or next, the Eagles were going to draft a QB. Don’t blame the Eagles for Bradfords blindness/stupidity….
    What do the “Eagles better be right” about? Moving up and getting Wentz?

  55. 55 Dave said at 1:41 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Scout vs journalist

    https://twitter.com/OptimumScouting/status/730089699524677632

    https://twitter.com/Andy_Benoit/status/730080476996636672

  56. 56 Gian GEAGLE said at 5:12 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Journalist sounds pretty dumb

  57. 57 FairOaks said at 10:08 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Equal starting points, yeah right. Bradford has years of playing at NFL speed (and plenty of experience picking up a new system), and familiarity with most of the receivers. Wentz has to adjust to the NFL, learn a completely new system since he’s been in the same one for a while, and get to know lots of teammates.

    Bradford was getting close to a top-10 QB by the end of last season. If Wentz can be that good by the start of the season, well, more power to him, and great. But I seriously doubt it.

  58. 58 eagleyankfan said at 2:04 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    boy – what a crock of shit by Bradford….
    ” The business side of football is sometimes a necessary consideration.” This wasn’t about money or a business(so I wish people would stop saying it). This was about sour grapes and Bradford getting his feelings hurt. Would have more respect if he fired his agent and apologized for being an idiot.

  59. 59 ChoTime said at 2:07 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    That’s amazing. Guess how many fingers I’m holding up?

  60. 60 eagleyankfan said at 2:10 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    what’s amazing?

  61. 61 ChoTime said at 2:12 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    How you can read someone’s mind!

  62. 62 eagleyankfan said at 2:18 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    By looking at the facts. Bradford signed a 2 year deal. How can he not know that’s a bridge position? Bradford was a happy clam until the Eagles moved to the 2nd spot. Once that happened, he demanded a trade.
    ….
    This can’t be about money(he just signed the contract).
    So, I’ll ask you — how can it be a business decision?

  63. 63 Tom33 said at 2:23 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    yeah – I never understood how he said he was looking for a long-term situation when he only signed a 2 year deal. I guess he was hoping he’d have a lot of success and then jump himself up into the $20 mil/year QB category – but short term contracts can be good or bad for both sides.

    If he had signed a longer-term deal and this had happened I think he’d have a right to be pissed. But not in this case.

  64. 64 eagleyankfan said at 2:31 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Agreed. Since we can read minds, we can only go by what we read. Pederson was quoted over and over that Bradford IS the QB and there will not be any competition to start. I’ll believe Pederson on those quotes that he truly intended to go 100% with Bradford as the man in 2016.

  65. 65 ChoTime said at 2:25 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    I am sure you are aware of another perfectly valid interpretation of the facts. I have seen no evidence to counter his agent’s claim of being put in an unwinnable position by the rather outlandish move up to #2 (which of course, instantly changes his status). His reaction is not admirable, but in this capitalistic, $-first society, how can you say it’s not about money unless you can see in his mind?

  66. 66 eagleyankfan said at 2:29 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    well, I can either stick my head up a cows ass or I can ask my butcher….
    I’m sure you can debate any claim because “you can’t read minds” – how can anyone win that argument?
    ….
    The money was fine prior to the Eagles moving to pick 2. Only then, money became an issue? Great timing…

  67. 67 ChoTime said at 3:31 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Without Wentz, Bradford is the guaranteed starter and has 2 pressure-less years of racking up stats to negotiate his next big payday. Now, unless he morphs into the 2nd coming of Dan Marino, he’s going to be sitting as soon as the kid shows the slightest chance of being ready. He’ll probably get 6 games while a low-talent offense tries to get its act together. At the end of the season, he’ll be another year older and his career will be firmly on the downswing.

  68. 68 anon said at 3:34 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Look at the year fitzpatrick just had and he can’t get more than $7m.

  69. 69 bill said at 2:21 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    I don’t think it’s BS. He wanted the money the Eagles offered (probably the best $$ offer he would’ve gotten, I’m sure Condon did his due diligence) but he wanted to play for Denver, who wouldn’t (couldn’t?)have paid him as much. So he and Condon hash up a plan to take the Eagles’ signing bonus, and then, at the moment of greatest leverage (heading into the draft) gin up some controversy and ask for a trade. High stakes with a low probability of drawing a winning hand, but one Sam was willing to take. And Denver probably said “If you can pull it off, we’ll gladly take you at the discounted price,” but didn’t make any plans on the low probability play.

    Thankfully, Howie didn’t get flustered and called the bluff.

  70. 70 eagleyankfan said at 2:24 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    I respect your posts. Always logical — but a professional athlete and a professional agent(who’s very successful) — don’t “hash up a plan”. If you truly — really wanted to play in Denver — sign for less money. Don’t sign for money and cry 2 weeks later…Bradford had plenty of time to sign. He didn’t have to rush in and sign with the Eagles.

  71. 71 bill said at 2:35 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Maybe I’m being naïve here, but couldn’t it possibly be that the agent and the professional athlete were a bit greedy and wanted the Eagles’ money first and foremost? Once they had money in their pockets, they would see if they could pull off the big win and get to Denver. It’s just a question of which was the primary objective, and which was secondary. Given what I know of lawyers/agents (guys who work on contingencies), I have no problem with believing that $$ were the primary concern. The “OMG, I’m a temporary QB!1!1!” was just a manufactured controversy to allow him to try and force a trade to Denver. I agree with the general thought that it’s ridiculous that Sam ever thought differently due to the contract structure. Which is why I don’t believe he was ever actually upset or insulted by the plan to draft Wentz.

    And thank you for the compliment. *I* always think I’m logical. But my wife and kids are of a different opinion.

  72. 72 eagleyankfan said at 2:40 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    LOL(@wife n kids) … why sign then? Damon (ex yankee and red sox) got an offer from the Yankees and called the Red Sox. Told them, if you don’t pay me, the Yankees are willing to do it. No call back. Damon signed with the Yanks(probably out of spite – but also for money). Bradford(I’d hope) slept on the offer. Made sure it was 100% what he wanted to do. Maybe there was some behind the scenes stuff that pressured Bradford — like,if you don’t sign now, we’ll call Fitz?
    ….
    Let’s say the Eagles granted a trade. Was Denver going to give Bradford more money than what the Eagles just gave him? (after what the Eagles gave Chase, I guess anything is possible)…

  73. 73 bill said at 3:36 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    No, I don’t think they (the Broncos) would have given him what the Eagles gave him the first place, but some of that money was already paid by the Eagles, hence it being a good deal for the Broncos. Can’t say I’m enough of a salary cap expert to say how much (nor do I remember enough of the reported contract terms), but some amount of money was going to count against the Eagles’ cap instead of against the Broncos’ if a trade were consummated. Win/win for Denver, so long as they could get the compensation to the Eagles low enough. And the leverage there was to make it look like there was no way the Eagles could keep him.

    Again, not a strong hand by any stretch, but they tried to bluff their way to a big win. Howie called it, and they lost. But they both still get the consolation prize of the best $$ contract they would have been offered.

  74. 74 Gian GEAGLE said at 6:46 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Yes but it works both ways. Elway may have been more attracted because the Eagles already had to pay some of that money, but that also likely means that the Eagles were going to require more value in return because they had already paid SAM….. Makes no sense for Roseman to give up 5mil, and then accept some crappy 5th round pick in return..
    ..
    So financially It made it cheaper for Elway, but it probably made the trade price more expensive…. And it seems like Elway wanted his cake and eat it too… Doesn’t seem like he was interested in trading for SAM, he was interested in FLEECING the Eagles for SAM… Thankfully Roseman didn’t bite

  75. 75 Gian GEAGLE said at 5:10 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Doubt it…. Had Condon Known that the Texans were going to end up stealing Osweiler, he would probably have been more likely to take SAM into free agency, see if Denver provided a better option, instead of resigning with Philly before he could hit the open market.
    ..
    Had Condon known that the Texans would steal Osweiler, at the very least he could have tried to get his client more money trying to create a bidding war between philly and Denver. Instead they signed the extension right before the start of free agency most likely because they didn’t think there would be any other options besides the Eagles on the open market

  76. 76 ACViking said at 2:48 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    What would firing Condon prove?

    Bradford’s never contradicted anything Condon said.

  77. 77 eagleyankfan said at 3:02 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    just a scape goat so Bradford can say — see it’s his fault, I’m not really being as everyone thinks….

  78. 78 b3nz0z said at 5:12 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    i mean if he pissed us off by acting like a coward i don’t see how doing more cowardly stuff would get him back in our good graces. firing condon would sort of prove a lot of people’s point about sammy

  79. 79 Gian GEAGLE said at 5:19 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    I don’t think its a big enough deal for SAM to have to look for a Scape Goat.
    .
    It’s May 10th, shut up, come to work every day, don’t take the media Bait, bore them with your PC answers, and by the June 7th mini camp this should be a non issues. As long as he doesn’t fan the flames with some stupid comment, this should all die down pretty soon

  80. 80 jaws80 said at 2:22 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    This whole thing was a little battle between Roseman and Condon/Bradford. The good news is that the Eagles GM won against a mega agent and a mega GM in Elway, without any theatrics or threats or long drawn out trade talks. Roseman was just calm and resolute. He said he would not trade him, he said Bradford would be back. That is all. And he did not trade him and Bradford returned. So this whole fiasco at least gives Roseman’s words a little more weight in the agent/GM world. Next time Roseman says, “Nah, i dont want to trade that player for a 5th,” the other GM will have a little more doubt whether Roseman is bluffing or not.

    Not to beat a dead duck anymore or mix sports metaphors, but Chip as GM kept swinging at the first pitch. According to Rex, Chip did not call him and ask for a 1st round pick for McCoy and then negotiate down. Chip called and asked to trade McCoy for injured linebacker duck straight up. Likely, Chip saying he would not trade a player like Bradford who demands to be traded would be considered insincere and likely Chip would have ended up cutting a player like Bradford who asked to be traded.

    GMs who want a disgruntled eagles player will have to trade for him with a good offer, and cannot just wait for Roseman to cut the player.

  81. 81 myartz04 said at 4:09 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    This is a good point. I for one was happy that Roseman didn’t get fleeced by Elway, who in my mind really tries to fleece everyone.

  82. 82 OakBrigade said at 2:50 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    I think the philly media underestimated Condon’s role since the beginning of the holdout.

  83. 83 anon said at 2:51 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Tommy – I’m glad you didn’t spend much time on this subject i’ve never seen you so animated. Throughout everything that happened while chip was here, dream team, etc. I never saw this level of animosity toward one player.

    Who is Sammy B? A QB who’s generally demonized, was traded to a wildly dysfunctional team, in a sports crazy town on the last year of his rookie deal. Was generally hated by the press, had the regime that traded for him fired, publicly lobbied for the retention of Shurmer, who wasn’t kept in any capacity. Stayed on a prove it deal and now we’re mad that he wants out when it looks like we’re rebuilding.

    Who will cry for Sam Bradford when he’s cut at the end of the year. Who would have cried for him if Eagles had traded him this year? No one, it’s just the business. For all the stuff that we’ve seen happen to players I cant ever hate on a guy trying to improve his position. Sam for his part didn’t say anything, let his agent do all the talking, then when it was over he came back.

  84. 84 Tumtum said at 3:40 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    One flaw that really makes me disagree with you -The prove it deal is still in place-. Just like the coaches say on Hard Knocks every year to all their bubble guys. “You’re not just showing us, you’re showing the rest of the league”.

    For that reason I can’t (tom) condon the cry baby act.

  85. 85 anon said at 2:53 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    How does this compare to when Djax sat out a year of $? Some people don’t think abou it anymore, some people are still salty about it – not that Sam will be here long enough for anyone to care.

  86. 86 eagleyankfan said at 3:03 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    I guess I don’t see how it’s similar at all. Are you saying DJ sat out for money? Bradford isn’t asking for money…

  87. 87 anon said at 3:23 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    so you’d be more inclined to forgiveness if it was just $ or you think they’re two different conversations?

  88. 88 eagleyankfan said at 3:33 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    two different conversations really. I do believe in signing and fulfilling contracts – but also understand players wanting ‘market’ money after a few years of their contract. Bradford wants out of here because he thinks he’s being unseated immediately…

  89. 89 Tumtum said at 3:31 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Wait. Djax sat out a year for money?

  90. 90 Gian GEAGLE said at 6:42 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    No. But he admitted that sulking over money caused him to have one of the worst years of his career

  91. 91 Gian GEAGLE said at 5:16 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    DJax played like a Cunt, sulking and letting it effect his play on the field(not wanting to get hit) nto the season…. By the June mini camp, this will probably be a non issue

  92. 92 ACViking said at 5:46 PM on May 10th, 2016:

  93. 93 anon said at 3:22 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Does anyone think Fletch just plays out this year no new deal?

  94. 94 Tumtum said at 3:32 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    I hope not. Price tag ain’t going down.

  95. 95 ICDogg said at 4:04 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Very likely. And he would get the franchise tag if it comes to that.

  96. 96 Gian GEAGLE said at 4:51 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    I expect an extension to get done this offseason. fletch wants a new contract, and the Eagles want him signed before ever playing a game in Schwartz scheme which should inflate his stats… When both sides want the same thing, odds are it gets worked out
    ..
    It is comforting knowing that we have a safety net(Fletch being under contract already) in case they cant agree on an extension

  97. 97 FairOaks said at 10:00 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    He’d have to be willing to play the next year under the franchise tag as well. And maybe even the year after that — he’d be paid appropriately that year but he’d still be taking the injury risk. So he’d be taking 2 to 3 years of injury risk if he wants to wait for true free agency. It’s possible the market may increase a lot by next year if he waits just one, but not sure he’d want to do that either.

  98. 98 Tumtum said at 3:27 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    TL;DR:Fire the agent Sam.

    I do feel bad for Bradford in a way. Tom Condon is really the one who screwed him over here. Before the draft, during early FA there were quite a few open QB opportunities around the league. There was no reason for Sam to rush into his 2 year contract with the Eagles, especially if his primary concern was long-term commitment.

    I’m sure they spoke to the Texans, and the Texans really did want a young guy. No chance the Oswiler deal was on the table for Bradford. Every other QB needy team was in play though. The thing is that the Eagles offered the biggest dollar signs first. Condon pushed Sam to take that deal. It is pretty clear the Broncos would have signed Sam, with no alternative for the future in sight. Once signing Sam, even if they had drafted Lynch in the 3rd (highly unlikely), he would probably still feel very safe for 3+ years (long term in NFL standards).

    Instead Condon saw the dollar signs and went for the 2 year deal before Oswiler signed anywhere. Sam was clearly not blind to this and upset with the outcome. He could of freely signed with the Broncos. Condon tried to save face with his client by manufacturing a trade. Now Sam is in an even worse spot.

    Of course he could of signed with the Browns, Jets, maybe even the Bills. Just assuming those rosters weren’t as alluring as the Eagles.

    Sure Condon is one of the top agents, but if I were Sam I would probably move on from him. Even if I am completely off base with what I wrote (probably am), it sure isn’t a hard spin to sell for the PR. He would never have to tell the story. Just fire the guy and the story tells it self.

  99. 99 Gian GEAGLE said at 4:48 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Think firing his agent is uneccessary. By training camp it will be water under the bridge

  100. 100 Tumtum said at 5:24 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    I would be upset if I could of been the Broncos QB by just waiting, and then I’m stuck looking like a schmuck and as the Eagles QB.

  101. 101 Gian GEAGLE said at 6:15 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Sound thin skinned to me…. A lot upsets me that I can’t control, thats life. Is firing his agent going to change the fact that he didn’t come to work in two weeks? Im one of Sam’s biggest supporters, but that was his choice. The agent works for Sam, and that agent has made SAM and Extremely rich man even tho same never game a team theirs money worth for how much they were paying him. His agent has gotten SAM paid something insane like around 1 mil for every TD he has thrown…
    ..
    lions shouldn’t concern themselves with the opinion of Sheep…and when it comes to Bank accounts, Bradford is a Lion!

  102. 102 Tumtum said at 7:45 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Should he care what we think? Shit no. Making a statement shows that isn’t the case though.

  103. 103 ChoTime said at 11:41 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Pro forma PR, nothing more, my man.

  104. 104 b3nz0z said at 5:09 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    the irony of a comment this long starting with the dreaded “TLDR” gave me a chuckle

  105. 105 Tumtum said at 5:25 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Pretty common thing for long posts over on reddit. It is a nice way to know if a post is worth reading.

  106. 106 b3nz0z said at 5:29 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    no totally. it’s just funny at the beginning of a comment long enough to have the “see more” thing at the beginning. fwiw i did read it all

  107. 107 A_T_G said at 7:53 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Maybe. Or maybe Sam saw dollar signs, took the safe play, and the regretted it. Perhaps Condon has been doing everything possible to protect Sam from himself, repair damage, and advise him back onto course. All the while allowing the inferences to focus the blame on him, just like a good agent should. Maybe.

  108. 108 Tumtum said at 9:01 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Yep I could be totally wrong, but it was a fun scenario to trump up and play out.

  109. 109 FairOaks said at 9:47 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Thought that Bradford had told Condon that he wanted to be back in Philadelphia, so Condon was trying to get as much money out of them as possible — and succeeded. They may have thought that Denver would find a way to keep Osweiler, and also that the Eagles were in no position to nab one of the top two prospects in the draft.

    It also seems reasonable to guess that the Eagles offer would expire before free agency started, as they would then have to prepare to potentially find another QB or treat free agency differently. So Bradford might risk having to take a much lesser contract if he waited — little guarantee he’d get the same offer later. It was worth more money to the Eagles to get him wrapped up earlier. And I doubt the Broncos were willing to give him as much as the Eagles offered.

    So… it probably went to plan, just that the plan assumed that the Eagles wouldn’t go all out to get Wentz/Goff — draft a young QB, sure, but not the massive investment it ended up being. The implied promise in that contract would be the ability to win the long-term Eagles job — but that now seems to be very unlikely.

  110. 110 daveH said at 8:13 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Sam totally in the right. The business side does need to be played out unfortunately for the players ineffective publicity. And the owners love that.lets go Sam. Good luck. Glad to have you back.

  111. 111 nicolajNN said at 9:37 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Didn’t the business side play out a couple months before when he signed a contract?

  112. 112 ChoTime said at 9:37 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    It has been playing out this entire time, concluded today.

  113. 113 scratcherk said at 8:34 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Such a weird situation. He was a freaking FREE AGENT. Just go sign with Denver instead of signing with the Eagles then bitching to get traded.

  114. 114 Buge Halls said at 9:11 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    The reason he signed the deal is because nobody else wanted him, Denver includes.

  115. 115 ICDogg said at 9:59 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Denver did want him. But at no more than $7M. And weren’t giving up a high pick.

  116. 116 wee2424 said at 10:32 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    He didn’t go to Denver because Denver knew he wasn’t worth the amount of money he wanted. It goes 2 ways. You have to want to be on a team and they have to want you as well.

    Bradford and his agent really over played their hand this off season. They figured he would be a hot commodity during FA, only to find out that he really wasn’t that wanted in a QB deprived league.

    The mild market for him during FA was really damning for him.

  117. 117 EaglesGameBalls said at 11:36 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Denver had osweiler at the time

  118. 118 ChoTime said at 8:46 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Whew, this is a tough town…

  119. 119 EaglesGameBalls said at 11:36 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Snore…

  120. 120 EaglesGameBalls said at 11:37 PM on May 10th, 2016:

    Sam Bradford pre season super bowl MVP!!!

  121. 121 unhinged said at 7:15 AM on May 12th, 2016:

    If…if Carson Wentz had said that he admired Bradford, the fallout would have derailed the narrative touting his football IQ, his wonderlic prowess, and his straight-arrow appeal. It would have offended every Eagle fan for the stench of political correctness, and the sign of fake organizational fence-mending.