A report last month suggested that new Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford was prepared to play out the final year of his contract without an extension, but it appears the two sides haven’t shelved talks entirely. According to Ed Werder of ESPN.com, the Eagles are discussing an extension with Bradford that would lock him up for the short term, rather than the long term.
Bradford, 27, came to the Eagles in a March trade that saw Nick Foles shipped out to St. Louis. The former first overall pick has battled injuries over the past two years, tearing his ACL twice and missing the entire 2014 campaign. In his last full season, Bradford threw for 3,702 yards, 21 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. During that 2012 campaign, Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked him 21st among 38 quarterback candidates.
Despite Bradford’s injury concerns, he has made a strong first impression in Philadelphia, per Werder, and Chip Kelly and the Eagles believe he can be a franchise quarterback if he can stay healthy. In expressing optimism about Bradford, Kelly pointed to star quarterbacks like Peyton Manning and Drew Brees who switched teams after injuries and excelled for their new clubs.
While Bradford’s injury history may make him more inclined to accept some long-term security, he made a ton of money on his rookie contract, and is slated to earn another $12.985MM in 2015, so he may not love the idea of signing a five-year extension when his value is at a low point. Similarly, the Eagles may not want to commit to Bradford for the next several years before he plays a regular season contest for the team. As such, it makes sense that a short-term agreement, perhaps adding two years onto Bradford’s current deal, could make for a good compromise.
A short-term (or “medium-term”) deal makes a ton of sense for both sides. At the same time, fiscally speaking, Bradford could totally afford to gamble on himself and play the year out thanks to that insane rookie deal he had w/ the Rams.