Sam Bradford apparently turned down a four-year, $72 million deal this summer
Good news, Eagles fans: Sam Bradford reportedly turned down a four-year, $72 million deal this summer.
The bad news: Bradford remains the starting quarterback in Philadelphia, at least for the time being.
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Let’s go live to Eagles teammate DeMarco Murray — he of a five-year, $40 million deal — for his reaction:
The Eagles extended a four-year offer with an average annual value of $18 million to Bradford during the offseason, WIP-FM’s Howard Eskin told CBS Philly’s Josh Innes Show, and his agent scoffed at it.
“Let’s put it this way: They were big fans of Bradford. They’re not as big of fans of Bradford, because obviously they will not sign him to the contract that he turned down, which was about $18 million a year. Not for $18 million a year for four years, they won’t. Not at the way he’s playing now, but again, what do you have nine games left? You have to see what happens the rest of the season. His agent turned it down. Nothing’s guaranteed, but the signing bonus dictates how long you can keep him, and I don’t know what the signing bonus number was, but it was pretty healthy.”
Considering Bradford has thrown more interceptions (10) than touchdowns (9) — ranking 23rd in completion percentage (62.0), 30th in quarterback rating (76.4) and 31st in yards per attempt (6.4) — his agent may regret not putting pen to paper if Philadelphia wanted to make him one of the NFL’s 13 highest-paid QBs.
If indeed four years and $72 million were the numbers on the table, it was a curious decision for the QB’s camp. As the last No. 1 overall pick before the league’s rookie salary scale took effect, Bradford is currently playing out the final season of a six-year, $78 million contract he signed with the St. Louis Rams in 2010. After suffering season-ending left ACL tears in each of the past two seasons, you’d think the security of another $72 million — with Eskin’s estimate of $30 million-plus guaranteed — would be a priority.
Apparently not. Bradford, or at least an agent acting on his behalf, bet on himself. There are still nine games left in the season, and the Eagles (3-4) only trail the New York Giants by a half-game in the division, so there is plenty of time for Bradford to win that wager. For anyone who thinks he may never sniff an average annual value of $18 million again, consider Colin Kaepernick makes $19 million a year.
Of course, there’s also the chance Bradford could play himself out of a starting job in Philadelphia — and elsewhere — just a year after the Eagles traded a pair of draft picks and Nick Foles, who signed an affordable two-year, $24.5 million extension with the St. Louis Rams shortly after the deal this past summer.
Good news, Eagles fans: Foles hasn’t fared much better than Bradford statistically in St. Louis, ranking 25th in yards per attempt (7.0), 27th in quarterback rating (81.6) and 28th in completion percentage (58.8).
The bad news: Bradford remains the starting quarterback in Philadelphia, at least for the time being.
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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
