What hath Chip wrought?
I’m not going to kick a dead horse—we all know Chip Kelly left things in general disarray here, moreso due to his G.M. experiment than his abilities as an in-game coach. The Eagles will dig out of the various conundra left by Chip, it just feels like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube right now as we look at the big picture going into free agency.
Remember veteran poster CETS at PE.com? He includes me on his email cc list when he chats with his old friends Stine, GS Batch, Terence, Theo and the rest of their alumni club members. Well, CETS sums up the Eagles’ current personnel challenge quite concisely:
“Free agency and the draft are way too hard to gauge until the Bradford/Thurmond situations get figured out. If we were to sign both, then we only need a starting guard or RT. My preference would be RT— move Lane to LT and Peters to LG. That would make for a very respectable line.”
“Then you can start going for a wish-list/upgrade list. That would include a SAM LB, a RB if Murray is gone, a WR (we still need a legit #1), CB because I don’t think Maxwell is the right long term solution, and depth on the DL, especially at end.”
“If we don’t sign Bradford and Thurmond then we’re a mess— and can’t fix this in one offseason. Especially without a 2nd round pick. If that’s the case then draft the best available [player] where we could use upgrades.”
So part one of CETS’ suggested remedy just got fulfilled: Sam Bradford 2 yrs $36 mill with $26 million guaranteed. [Source— Adam Schefter of ESPN ]
The Eagles announced Tuesday afternoon that they have agreed to a two-year deal with Bradford. The agreement came just minutes after they officially declined to restrict him with the franchise tag.
“We’ve been pretty clear we’d like to have Sam back,” said Howie Roseman, the team’s executive vice president of football operations.
The Eagles acquired Bradford in a trade with the St. Louis Rams last year. He was going into the final year of his contract. Chip Kelly was not able to get an extension done before the season. Until now, with the re-signing of Bradford, the future of the QB position for the Eagles was very blurry.
Bradford made $78.5 million in six years under the contract he signed with the Rams after being taken with the first pick in the 2010 draft. The Eagles appeared unlikely to use the franchise tag on him in 2016, which would have paid Bradford about $20 million for 2016. Now they don’t have to deal with that issue—or totally cripple their remaining salary cap space.
NFL teams have until 4 p.m. Tuesday to use their franchise or transition tags on impending free agents. By the weekend, the “legal tampering” window will be open. Agents and teams are allowed to discuss their interest in each other before the official beginning of free agency on March 9. Goodbye, Walter Thurmond?
You got Bradford, and now you have to pay him—you still want to keep Jason Peters, Mark Sanchez, Darren Sproles and DeMarco Murray? According to GK Brizer, if the Eagles released Peters, Sanchez and Sproles, they would save a total of $13.7 million in cap space. You may have to go down that road now that Bradford is re-signed.
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