There are two debates raging in Philadelphia at the moment. One is who will replace Chip Kelly and the other is what the Eagles are going to do with Sam Bradford. He may have started quietly, but the second half of the season was very much an audition for Bradford and with the safety net of Chip Kelly now gone, those impressive performances that saw him rank inside the top four most accurate Quarterbacks in the league could prove vital. The problem for the Eagles is that currently, they don’t have much in the way of cap space whilst other teams sniffing out a franchise Quarterback might..so how much will it take to keep Sam Bradford in Philadelphia and is it worth it?
According to Sportrac, Sam Bradford holds a market value of of $55.9m to be spread over a three year contract which would make his salary $18.6m per season. This is of course an estimation and could be wayward, but interestingly enough, Joe Theismann had this to say today in a radio interview with 97.5 The Fanatic:
.@Theismann7 "For Sam Bradford, you're talking 60-70 million dollars spread out over a 5-6 year period."
— 97.5 The Fanatic (@975TheFanatic) January 8, 2016
A contract of of $18.6m per year would be a $5m increase over what he’s earning currently but more interestingly if you add a couple of years to the deal, the figures Theismann speculates are stunningly close.
Sportrac puts Bradford in the same bracket as Ryan Tannehill, Matt Ryan, Jay Cutler and Joe Flacco.
We published an article earlier this week on the Eagles’ current Cap space situation and how much hinges on how they deal with this situation (which you can read here). Bradford’s contract this season made up for 8% of the teams total cap space and that number would likely rocket to between 11%-13%.
The problem is that with teams like Cleveland and San Francisco having much more Cap Space available instantly, it gives Bradford and more importantly his agent leniency. It isn’t as though the former Ram will struggle to find a new home in the NFL after showing just how much he progressed in those final few games. With that in mind and his agent being someone who will ensure his client gets the best deal financially possible, it could force the Eagles into either parting with players to free cap space or losing the Quarterback altogether.
It’s an interesting topic and one that’s definitely going to see all kinds of rumours and headlines begin to emerge as time wears on. Bradford made a statement this season and by doing that has most likely secured himself a future in the NFL…whether that future is in Philadelphia or not however is another question entirely.
