September 06, 2016
Sometimes you have to make three lefts to make a right … and that appears to be what the Eagles did with Howie Roseman at the wheel when they finally decided the right road to travel was Wentz Blvd.
Rookie Carson Wentz will be the Eagles’ starting quarterback when they open their season Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. It’s a move that should have been made months ago. It’s a decision that should have been made when the Eagles first finagled their way up to the second pick in the draft and took Wentz as their future franchise quarterback.
In the interim, Roseman and the Eagles looked like a pack of fools after they had re-singed quarterback Sam Bradford to a pile of cash over the next two years and added backup Chase Daniel at a hefty premium.
It was a preposterous scenario – and Bradford knew it.
Bradford did not make many fans here in Philadelphia, mostly because of his mediocre pay and large paycheck. However, give him full credit for realizing it was stupid to have him as the top gun after the team went out and drafted a quarterback with the second overall pick in the draft.
It made no sense, and it was obviously done because the Eagles under Roseman could not plot a course from point A to point B to point C.
Instead, Roseman realized that once he could see the future with Wentz, he had to do some backtracking. He got that chance when the Minnesota Vikings lost quarterback Teddy Bridgewater for the season.
Bingo, time to change the waypoints on the GPS, and the Eagles made another left to finally get headed in the right direction.
With Bridgewater down, the Vikings were likely looking at a wasted potential chance to go deep in the playoffs … maybe even to the Super Bowl. With a loaded roster and a bull of running back who could literally carry much of the offensive load, the Vikes just needed somebody to manage the game.
And along came Bradford.
Much like the Eagles believed they could possibly sneak into the playoffs with Bradford in a weak division, the Vikings think they can make their way deep into the postseason with Bradford. It was a horrific week for the Vikings, who aren’t even sure if Bridgewater will return season … or if he is ever the same after a devastating structural knee injury.
The Vikings’ time is now, and they paid what could be a heavy price for Bradford: A first-round pick next season and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2018, which could turn into a No. 3 if the Vikings get to the NFC Championship game or a second-round pick if they win the Super Bowl.
Their hope is that the first-round pick is very late in the first round.
Again, that would be worth it as they are trying to chase down and conquer the Green Bay Packers.
As for the Eagles, if you are taking a very shortsighted view, they probably lost their slim chance to make the playoffs this season. It was after all, a marketing 180-degree turn as they changed their tune from pushing for a playoff spot this season to building for the future.
Indeed, there are some very messy parts to this maneuver, not the least of which is the fear that Roseman and the front office are far to quick to react and change direction. It certainly sends up signals when a team pays a veteran quarterback a ton of money and then trades him a week before the season opener.
Maybe so, and it is certainly agreed that Roseman is far too twitchy with his maneuvering, but in this case he might just some up roses in spite of himself.
Bradford knew this season was going to be a horrible experience. Saddled with a less-than-mediocre receiving group, a rookie head coach, and injury prone running backs, he was set to become a target for a fan base that never warmed up to him from day one.
In reality, the Eagles never really had much of chance to make the playoffs with Bradford as the quarterback, unless the defense is so good it could have carried the team into January.
Well, the same is now true for Carson Wentz, and Howie Roseman had better hope that Wentz is the real deal or he won’t be making any left or right turns on his way straight out of town.
