Bradford Trade a “Win-Win” for Eagles

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On the morning of Saturday, September 3^rd, the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings made breaking news by announcing the trading of quarterback Sam Bradford to the Vikings for a 2017 first round pick. This huge and shocking trade was brilliant for the Eagles and not so much for the Vikings.

The Vikings, finding themselves desperate for a quarterback after Teddy Bridgewater tore his ACL in practice this week, made this trade in order to keep their status as Super bowl contenders. They went about it all wrong. Bradford is not the type of quarterback that can lead a team to a championship. He’s the type of quarterback that a team would use as a stopgap while they develop their young, franchise-caliber quarterback (which is what the Eagles were doing).

The Vikings have a very talented roster, and with a good quarterback they surely would contend for a title. Bridgewater may or may not have been the guy capable of accomplishing that, but he is their guy. Injuries are certainly unfortunate, especially when it is to your franchise quarterback, but this trade just doesn’t make sense. The Vikings essentially gave up a first round pick for a one-year rental of an average, not to mention overpaid, quarterback.

The Eagles are the clear-cut winners of this trade. They managed to dump Bradford’s terrible contract and, in return, acquire not only a first round pick, but also a conditional fourth round pick in 2018. The Eagles are clearly not a Super bowl contender this season and the only reason they’re not playoff contenders is because they play in the NFL East and anything can happen on that division. Otherwise, their roster is not the most talented and they’re not in a “win-now” mode. Not to mention the fact that the Eagles drafted quarterback Carson Wentz with the second overall pick in the 2016 draft and even if they decide to keep him on the bench in favor of Chase Daniel, he is still the future face of the franchise.

Now the Eagles have a first round pick to help continue their rebuild. At the same time, the Vikings cost themselves a chance at adding another good player to their already talented roster, while only getting a one-year rental in return. Job well done by him the Eagles front office and certainly a questionable decision by the Vikes. This trade is clearly a “win-win” for Philly.