March 01, 2016
Sam Bradford will remain with the Philadelphia Eagles, as the team announced that they have reached a two-year agreement with their 2015 starting quarterback.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the two-year deal is worth $36 million, with $26 million in guaranteed money.
Eagles gave QB Sam Bradford a two-year, $36 million deal, including $26 million guaranteed, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 1, 2016
The two year deal falls short of what was expected for Bradford earlier this offseason. It shows that a strong market did not develop for Bradford, and that the Eagles were not sold on him as their long-term answer at quarterback.
However, it also shows that the Eagles were willing enough to invest $18 million per season for Bradford in 2016 and 2017, and will not be undergoing a drastic re-build.
In 2015, Bradford was dreadful in the first half of the season, but improved (statistically, anyway) over the last half of the season:
| Sam Bradford | Comp-Att-% | Yards (YPA) | TD-INT | Rating |
| First 7 games | 170-274 (62%) | 1766 (6.4) | 9-10 | 76.4 |
| Last 7 games | 176-258 (68.2%) | 1959 (7.6) | 10-4 | 97.0 |
On the season as a whole, Bradford ranked 24th in Football Outsiders' DVOA metric, sandwiched in between Josh McCown and Blake Bortles.
Bradford, barring injury, will almost certainly be the Eagles' starting quarterback in 2016, but the short-term nature of his deal makes it likely that the Eagles plan on investing in the quarterback position in the draft, possibly as high as the first round.
The 2016 quarterback draft class is light on quarterbacks who can step in immediately and start, but is deep in terms of the number of quarterbacks likely to be drafted. Cal's Jared Goff is often thought of as the most "pro-ready" of the bunch, followed by North Dakota State's Carson Wentz. There is a good chance that both quarterbacks will be gone by the time the Eagles pick at the 13th overall spot.
The third quarterback of the group, Memphis' Paxton Lynch, has high upside but is thought to be a year or two away from starting in the NFL. With Bradford on just a two-year deal, the Eagles are prime candidates to draft and develop a rookie quarterback to sit behind Bradford. He can then learn the position from an Eagles coaching staff that includes three former quarterback coaches, two of whom were former quarterbacks themselves in the NFL.
Of course, there's also the chance that Bradford puts together his first full good season as a pro in 2016, in which case the Eagles may have themselves a "good problem."
