Sam Bradford is playing out the final season of a six-year, $78 million contract he signed when he was still with the Rams, and he may end up regretting turning down an opportunity to change that before his disappointing 2015 campaign began.
When the Eagles first acquired Bradford during the offseason, there was immediate speculation that they were going to use him as a chip to move up in the draft to select Marcus Mariota. That never happened, and apparently there was a point when Bradford turned down a substantial contract extension offer from Philly.
On Monday, Howard Eskin of 94WIP told “The Josh Innes Show” that the Eagles offered Bradford a four-year deal worth $18 million annually.
“They were big fans of Bradford,” Eskin said, via Ray Boyd of CBS Philly. “They’re not as big of fans of Bradford (now) because obviously they will not sign him to the contract that he turned down which was about $18 million a year.”
Bradford has thrown for 1,776 yards, nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions in seven games this season. He has held onto the ball too long and made poor decisions throwing downfield. He doesn’t look like a fit for Chip Kelly’s offense, and I doubt any other team is going to think he is worth $18 million per season.
Expectations were high when Bradford first got to Philly, and he obviously bought into them. He expected things to go more smoothly in his first season with Kelly. As a result, Bradford may have overplayed his hand.
