Peter King: Signing Bradford Will Be 'One Of Most Difficult Contracts To Execute'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- There's one significant variable in the Philadelphia Eagles' three November losses and their two December victories.
Sam Bradford.
Thanks to a Bradford shoulder injury and concussion, the Eagles were forced to turn to Mark Sanchez for nine straight quarters, resulting in three losses and a 4-7 record. However, Bradford is back running Chip Kelly's offense and the Eagles have won consecutive games, putting themselves tied atop the NFC East race with just three to play.
"What happened when they lost games?" SI.com's Peter King told Angelo Cataldi on the 94WIP Morning Show on Wednesday. "I mean to me, they got terrible production and very inconsistent production out of the quarterback position. When I look at what's happened over, especially, the last two weeks. Do you have great games out of the quarterback position? No, you have good games out of the quarterback position. They're not great, but what you have is a guy that is getting more and more comfortable in what Chip Kelly is asking him to do, in Sam Bradford."
Listen: Peter King on the 94WIP Morning Show
The Eagles are 6-2 in the last eight games started and finished by Bradford, and one of those two losses was an 11-point defeat at the undefeated Carolina Panthers. Bradford has thrown five touchdowns to just one interception, completing 65-percent of his passes, over his last four starts.
However, the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner -- acquired by the Eagles in a trade this offseason with the St. Louis Rams -- is in the final year of his rookie deal. While Kelly implied earlier this week that the intention is to keep Bradford for more than just one season, King explains why this could be a tricky situation.
"This is gonna be one of the most difficult contracts to execute," King said in regards to Bradford potentially signing a new contract with the Eagles. "Number one, he didn't want to give back any money when he played in St. Louis. And he and his agent Tom Condon, they basically --- Sam Bradford would still be the quarterback of the St. Louis Rams, for better or for worse, had he'd been willing to do a lesser deal to stay with the Rams. He wasn't, so he went to Philadelphia. Now you have to ask yourself, have we seen enough to make him a X number of dollars a year quarterbacks -- whatever, 18, 19 million. I don't think so, but again, at the end of this season you're going to have to make a decision on this guy.
"They're gonna have to good of a record to get one of the really good quarterbacks in the draft, and then to start over again, which I'm sure Kelly doesn't want to do. I think his feeling would be, let's try to get Sam signed long-term," King continued. "But you know, what's the number and what are the guarantees? I think those are the two questions."
When asked if he would sign Bradford to a new deal, King hedged.
"It's a lot of money," King said. "I wouldn't do it. But you have to then ask yourself, who's our quarterback opening day next year?"
