The overall state of quarterback play in the NFL puts those who prove capable in line for big free agent pay days, with Kirk Cousins being the most clear example from the 2015 season. But elsewhere in the NFC East, another signal-caller set to hit free agency in March apparently had an inflated sense of his value.
Via ESPN’s Jim Trotter, Bradford’s agent Tom Condon asked the Philadelphia Eagles for $25 million per year in negotiations about a long-term contract after the former No. 1 overall pick was acquired from the St. Louis Rams. Talks seemed to go nowhere fairly quickly, and Bradford said he was never offered a contract by the Eagles. Apart from his past durability issues which surely affected contract talks, we now have a bigger reason why the Eagles didn’t lock down Bradford long term before the season.
For comparison sake, Aaron Rodgers is the currently the league’s highest-paid quarterback with a per-season average of $22 million. The Green Bay Packers‘ signal-caller of course has a much better resume than Bradford, including a Super Bowl win and other playoff successes, so that kind of investment has been justified for one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
Bradford had a fairly solid 2015 season with the Eagles, with a career-high 3,725 passing yards, and he stayed mostly healthy by starting 14 games. But 19 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions are not the numbers of an elite quarterback, so hopefully Bradford and his agent have far more realistic expectations during the upcoming offseason.
