Over the past couple of weeks, the consensus from Philadelphia sports radio hosts and callers is that quarterback Sam Bradford will not be coming back next season. The main reason why Bradford may not return is because of the price tag, as it will cost upwards of $20 million per year. My colleague Jalil Phillips noted this in his recent story about the eight things the Eagles’ offense can takeaway from this season.
With the possibility of Bradford going elsewhere, along with the hiring of new head coach Doug Pederson and offensive coordinator Frank Reich, there may be a new quarterback under center for the Eagles. You may be wondering who that guy could be? Radio hosts and callers have mentioned that the Eagles should take a look at Kansas City Chiefs backup quarterback Chase Daniel. On Sunday night, we discussed the Eagles quarterback situation on the Total Sports Live podcast.
But why Chase Daniel? Why should a quarterback who has only started two games over his seven-year career be brought in? The reason why you sign Chase Daniel, who will be a pending free agent, is because he is familiar with Doug Pederson, and won’t cost a lot.
When Daniel arrived in Kansas City in 2013, after spending three years in New Orleans, he signed a three-year, $10 million deal as a backup to Alex Smith.
I highly doubt Daniel would get that same type of contract on the market this time around, but he could get a contract like Tyrod Taylor did this past offseason, where the Buffalo Bills signed him to a three-year, $3.3 million contract. It was a low risk, high reward signing for Buffalo, and it paid off. If the Eagles take the same approach, it could pay off as well.
Daniel is not a big quarterback, as he is only listed as 6-foot and 218 lbs., but has more than enough experience, having learned behind New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith.
At the University of Missouri, Daniel showed that he was mobile, while putting up gaudy passing numbers. As a senior, Daniel completed 72.9 percent of his passes for 4,335 yards, 39 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.
Over his seven-year NFL career, Daniel has started in two games, and in those games, he played solid. In 2013 against the San Diego Chargers, Daniel completed 70-percent of his passes for 200 yards, and a touchdown. On the ground, he added 59 yards. Then in 2014 against the Chargers, Daniel completed 59.3-percent of his passes for 157 yards, compiling a 75.7 quarterback rating.
If the Eagles bring in Daniel, they have nothing to lose, and it creates an open quarterback competition heading into the 2016 season. Right now, the only quarterback under contract for the Eagles is Mark Sanchez. We already know what kind of quarterback Sanchez has shown to be over his two-year Eagles’ career. Thus far, he has completed 64.3-percent of his passes, to go along with 18 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. Plus, there is no point release to Sanchez as he has one year left on his contract.
They say competition brings the best out of people. With a new head coach in Pederson, who is looking for his new quarterback, why not have Daniel, Sanchez, and a rookie quarterback battle it out to be a starter. You have to believe if the Eagles go with Daniel, he will be in a good situation as his skills will work well with what the Eagles already have on offense.
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