The Philadelphia Eagles may not have come out and told Sam Bradford that they were looking to pick a quarterback early in this year’s draft, but executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman says Bradford could have easily connected the dots.
In an interview with “The Rich Eisen Show” on Tuesday, Roseman said the Eagles’ offseason plans were never really a secret.
“I think every time coach (Doug Pederson) and I talked this offseason we talked about drafting a young quarterback,” he said. “We were pretty out front about that. Obviously our travels were followed all over the internet about where we were and what we were doing. We were pretty conspicuous about getting a young quarterback in here.”
Roseman said he could not have predicted that the Eagles would be able to trade up to No. 2, but they wanted Bradford on the team regardless.
“We don’t tell anyone our plans about anything because we’re trying to execute our moves,” he added. “I don’t know any team that comes out and says, ‘We’re gonna take a left tackle in the first round,’ and goes out and does it. That’s kind of strange to me.”
Bradford could argue that he assumed the Eagles were looking to draft a quarterback later, using their earlier picks to build around him instead. Once Philly traded up, it became clear that Bradford is on borrowed time with the Eagles, prompting these colorful comments from the QB’s agent.
For what it’s worth, Roseman has already said Bradford is the Eagles’ starting quarterback. Pederson reiterated that on Tuesday.
Pederson says the message to Bradford was 'No need to look over your shoulder. You're the guy.' Says he wants Sam locked in on Getting ready
— Matt Lombardo (@MattLombardo975) May 17, 2016
The problem, of course, is that Bradford seemingly has a shelf life in Philly. The Eagles didn’t draft Carson Wentz to have him sitting on the bench for the next five years, so Bradford will likely be looking for work elsewhere when his two-year deal expires. As Roseman said, he probably should have seen this coming.
