If the Philadelphia Eagles are truly committed to Sam Bradford, they could easily put their money where their mouth is a sign the quarterback to a new contract. Bradford is preparing to enter the final year of his rookie deal and while head coach Chip Kelly continues to stress his confidence and faith in Bradford, the Eagles are getting linked to Marcus Mariota in the NFL Draft. Signing Bradford would end those rumors, but Philadelphia is making no strides towards that effort.
According to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, there have been no meaningful discussions regarding a new contract for Bradford. The quarterback is set to make just over $12 million in the final year of his rookie contract and the Eagles are not likely to be interested in extending that at the moment. This could mean multiple things for Philadelphia. Kelly could easily just be interested in seeing how Bradford has healed from his season-ending knee injury or he could still be seeking out trading deals for the quarterback.
Several NFL sources believe the Eagles are still interested in trading Bradford for Marcus Mariota in the NFL Draft. According to Mark Eckel of NJ.com, the Eagles were in the mix with a trade involving the Cleveland Browns, but Bradford denied he would sign a contract extension with Cleveland that killed interest. Unless the Eagles can get overly creative and try to find some kind of three-team trade on draft day, Bradford will be the starting quarterback in 2015.
So where does Tim Tebow fall in all of this. The Eagles shocked the world by giving Tebow a contract and adding the quarterback to a rotation that consists of Bradford, Mark Sanchez and Matt Barkley. It is unclear exactly what kind of role Tebow will be playing. According to Sanchez, the Eagles signed Tebow to be a camp arm and fill in for Bradford while he continues to heal up.
"He's obviously a great guy, he works hard. And we needed another guy to throw while [Sam Bradford] is still recovering," Sanchez said, CSNPhilly.com. "So that's kind of the reason there [for the signing], at least as it was explained to me." "I knew we were going to have to do something [at quarterback]. It's going to be a fun year. Coach Kelly knows what he's doing. Don't worry too much. It's only April. Things will fall into place. We'll be just fine."
The Eagles will continue to get linked to trades for Marcus Mariota until he is officially on another team. Meanwhile, the Eagles could easily target a wide receiver in the first round to help replace Jeremy Maclin or they could look for help in the secondary.
