Report: Bradford Demands Trade, Will Skip Workouts
Sam Bradford. (Jeff Fusco)
After conflicting reports over Sam Bradford’s desire to request a trade, Adam Schefter tweeted this morning that the Eagles starting quarterback not only wants out of Philadelphia, but he’ll skip the off-season program as well.
Eagles have been informed Sam Bradford wants to be traded and he will not be showing up for their off-season program any longer, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 25, 2016
Since the Eagles traded up in the draft on Wednesday to acquire the No. 2 pick, it’s been widely reported that Bradford is unhappy. Bradford hasn’t been available to the media since the day before the move, when he was uninterested in discussing the possibility of Philadelphia using their first-round pick on a quarterback.
“If it happens, then that’s something that I deal with when it happens,” Bradford said. “But if it doesn’t happen, there’s really not a lot of sense in wasting time and thought and energy on that.”
After the Eagles made the trade with the Browns, Roseman called Bradford a “pro” and expressed no concern over how the starting quarterback would handle the move. Roseman has also said numerous times that they have no interest in trading Bradford.
Tim previously touched on the this when reports initially surfaced about Bradford potentially requesting a trade:
While his reported reaction is understandable to a degree — of course a quarterback is going to want full front-office support and commitment — it’s a move that he absolutely should have seen coming. The Eagles have been very up front about their desire to draft a quarterback; even left a locker stall empty next to Bradford and Chase Daniel with the intent on filling it at the end of the month. What’s more, they agreed to a contract with Bradford that allowed them to cut ties after one season. Add in the multitude of reports about the team’s efforts to move up for a QB, and all the signs were there.
If he didn’t want to be in this type of situation, he should have made that decision before signing on the dotted line. It’s a little too late to change courses now. For one, there are financial roadblocks that the team would need to overcome.
Sam Bradford #Eagles Dead $
Trade Pre 6/1: $11M
Cut Pre 6/1: $18M
Trade Post 6/1: $5.5M in 16 & 17
Cut Post 6/1: $12.5M in 16, $5.5M in 17— Spotrac (@spotrac) April 20, 2016
And even if they could find 1) a way around those roadblocks and 2) a team willing to give them decent compensation, there’s this little fact: the Eagles plan to use him as their starting quarterback this season and do not have interest in trading him, as Howie Roseman stated plainly on Wednesday.
A move like the one the Eagles made is bound to ruffle some feathers. Whether it impacts the team environment in a meaningful way falls on how the the coaches and players handle the situation.
Bradford isn’t happy, and that’s no surprise. But it’s best for everyone that cooler heads prevail, because it seems very likely that team and quarterback will be paired together for at least one more year.