Sam Bradford Wise to Play 2015 with Philadelphia Eagles Before Seeking Contract

Ever since the Philadelphia Eagles traded for Sam Bradford, observers have been waiting for the other shoe to drop in the form of a new contract. Some have even gone so far as to suggest the organization might be making a mistake by waiting to get Bradford locked up.

As it turns out, Bradford’s contract situation was probably never in the Eagles’ hands in the first place.

According to a report from Ian Rapoport for the NFL Network (via a Gregg Rosenthal article on NFL.com), Bradford intends to play out the final year of his current deal, which will pay him nearly $13 million for 2015, according to Spotrac. And to be honest, that’s neither surprising nor a bad idea for the sixth-year quarterback, because if he did agree to sign an extension right now, what would he stand to get?

Bradford isn’t exactly negotiating with a ton of leverage right now. Never mind the fact he’s coming off of back-to-back torn ACLs and has only played in seven games over the past two seasons. Even when he was on the field, the No. 1 overall pick of 2010 never came close to living up to his draft status.

	RECORD	CMP%	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	RATING
2013	3-4	60.7	1,687	6.4	14	4	90.9
2012	7-8-1	59.5	3,702	6.7	21	13	82.6
2011	1-9	53.5	2,164	6.1	6	6	70.5
2010	7-9	60.0	3,512	6.0	18	15	76.5

In fact, Bradford’s NFL career to this point has been mediocre, to put it mildly. He posted an 18-30-1 record as a starter and pedestrian 79.3 passer rating as a member of the St. Louis Rams prior to his arrival in Philly. Healthy or not, there’s a lot of skepticism surrounding the guy.

To be fair, Bradford’s struggles weren’t entirely his own fault. He’s never had a wide receiver, tight end or running back go over 700 yards receiving in a season. He never operated behind an offensive lineman who was voted to the Pro Bowl. He also worked with three different offensive coordinators in St. Louis. The supporting cast was lacking, to say the least.

Regardless, Bradford is in no position to maximize his value. However, after one season in Philadelphia, he might be.

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

All of a sudden, Bradford is surrounded by talent. The Eagles have a fleet of Pro Bowl running backs in DeMarco Murray, Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles. The club invested multiple high draft picks in receivers and tight ends over the past three seasons, including Jordan Matthews, Nelson Agholor, Josh Huff and Zach Ertz. Left tackle Jason Peters, center Jason Kelce and right tackle Lane Johnson rank among the top offensive linemen in the league.

	YDS/GM	RANK	PTS/GM	RANK
2014	396.8	5th	29.6	3rd
2013	417.2	2nd	27.6	4th

Not only is there simply more talent in Philly than there ever was in St. Louis, but there’s also Chip Kelly. The head coach’s uptempo offense has been one of the most prolific in the NFL the past two seasons, and there’s no reason to think it will slow down. Almost every player who’s been through the system has enjoyed a career year.

If Bradford can only manage to stay upright and off of injured reserve, what are the odds he could enjoy a career year as well?

Look no further than Mark Sanchez for the answer. Signed by the Eagles last offseason, Bradford’s likely backup was coming from a very similar situation with the New York Jets, a team that lacked offensive talent and coaching stability. Sanchez owned a stat line that included a 55.1 completion percentage, a 6.5 yards-per-pass-attempt average and a 71.7 rating. The former fifth overall draft pick was a punch line.

Sanchez wound up appearing in nine games for the Eagles in 2014, and with weapons, protection and competent coaching, he looked like a different quarterback. He posted new personal bests with a 64.1 completion percentage, 7.8 yards per attempt and 88.4 rating.

Sanchez is still far from being a star, but he’s way better than anyone was willing to give him credit for a year ago. Before this season is over, people could be saying the same about Bradford.

	GMS	CMP%	YDS/ATT	TD	INT	RATING
Bradford	49	58.6	6.3	59	38	79.3
Sanchez	62	55.1	6.5	68	69	71.7

Only Bradford does have the potential to become a star. His numbers are better than Sanchez’s with the Jets, and the Rams were clearly a worse situation.

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Frankly, it makes no sense for Bradford to sign a new contract right now. It’s hardly even a gamble, as Rapoport described it. Bradford’s worth stands to increase dramatically with the Eagles this season, whereas barring another season lost due to injury, it almost couldn’t sink any lower. Sure, he’s risking some long-term security, but how much would an NFL front office really be willing to offer?

For that matter, it makes sense for the Eagles to wait, too. Seeing as Bradford—wisely—is unwilling to accept a lowball offer, the Eagles don’t want to make too many guarantees and wind up stuck paying an injured or subpar quarterback. It’s not as if they run the risk of Bradford getting away as a free agent, either, as the club can use the franchise tag to keep him from negotiating with other teams next year.

Of course, that’s if Bradford warrants being re-signed. And if he does have a healthy and productive season in Philadelphia, why wouldn’t he want to stick around?

There’s really no reason for either side to rush into a long-term deal prior to the start of the 2015 season. Bradford has too much to prove and very little to lose.