The Philadelphia Eagles took a gamble trading for Sam Bradford. They gave up a lot to get a quarterback who may or may not be healthy while playing on an expiring contract. The Eagles had the chance to get a number of different quarterbacks during the offseason including Marcus Mariota or Jameis Winston, but they maintained faith in Bradford. Now they will get a chance to see if that faith pays off as the quarterback is reportedly healthy heading into training camp.
According to NJ.com, Bradford has been looking great in rehab and should be good to go for training camp which begins Aug. 2 for the Eagles. The quarterback has yet to really show anything on the field in Philadelphia. Bradford was barely active during OTAs and mini-camp, but is expected to be fine come training camp. Bradford is coming off back-to-back ACL tears and has a lot to prove as he aims for a good season and a contract extension in the future.
Head coach Chip Kelly has stressed there is a quarterback competition taking place in with the Eagles as Mark Sanchez, Matt Barkley and Tim Tebow all sit on the roster. However, it is more likely those quarterbacks factor into the long-term future of Bradford and not the short-term. According to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, Bradford is declining a contract extension this offseason in hopes of having a good year and banking more money in free agency. That may or may not come from the Eagles depending on what players like Sanchez or Barkley look like this season.
Bradford certainly has all of the tools to be successful in Philadelphia. He has the leading NFL rusher behind him as DeMarco Murray prepares to pick up where he left off in Dallas. Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles will be battling to take his place on the field. Sproles admits that he is not thrilled about the running back battle in the upcoming season, but CSN Philadelphia is reporting the dynamic running back's role is not expected to change with Murray on the roster.
The other battle is taking place at the wide receiver position. With Jeremy Maclin out, Jordan Matthews becomes the No.1 guy. Riley Cooper is hoping to join alongside him, but Nelson Agholor is winning people over and is expected to make an impact next year. Josh Huff and Miles Austin will also be looking for playing time next year.