Santoliquito: Bradford, Daniel, And Wentz Doesn't Work
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The Eagles signed Sam Bradford to a two-year contract worth $35 million, which contains $22 million guaranteed. They then signed Kansas City backup Chase Daniel to a three-year, $21-million deal, which includes $12 million guaranteed. The second quarterback taken in last year's draft, where the Eagles now stand this year, was Marcus Mariota -- who signed a four-year, $24,213,974 contract, all of it guaranteed by Tennessee.
Based on those numbers, that's approximately $58 million committed to the quarterback position the Eagles will lug in 2016.
That's a lot of money.
The Eagles are in this position because on Wednesday they moved up to the No. 2 slot, to most likely take Carson Wentz, by shipping their No. 8 pick in the first round, a third-round pick (77th overall) and a fourth-round pick (100th overall) in this year's draft, a first-round pick in 2017 and a second-round pick in 2018 to the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland also sent a fourth-round pick in 2017 to the Eagles.
"The problem with this deal is you gave a bundle of money to Sam Bradford, you have Chase Daniel, who they gave a lot money to, and now you have Wentz, or Jared Goff, who will get a substantial amount of money, and you have to find out almost immediately if Wentz, who they'll probably take, is any good," said Bill Werndl, an NFL draft analyst and creator of Ourlads Guide, one of the first draft guides, and veteran sportscaster and producer from the area. "It's a bad move to keep Bradford and Wentz on the same team together. Bradford has to know that Wentz is his eventual replacement. That can cause some problems in the locker room.
"You only have four years to find out if Wentz can play or not. Carson Wentz, in the next three years, has got to get the Eagles to the Super Bowl, got to get them to the Super Bowl. We're hoping. Well, that's all they do in this town is hope. Look offensively and there are no weapons there. You're running backs are an injury-prone Ryan Mathews and a declining Daren Sproles. Then you look at your offensive line and Jason Peters' best days are way behind him. Defensively, you hope Jordan Hicks can play a full 16-game schedule, and Mychal Kendricks was awful last year. You have undersized defensive ends, and I know they like this Wide-9 and all of that, and then you have the secondary, and they hope Eric Rowe emerges as a top-flight corner, and the other side is up in the air. Maybe Nolan Carroll, maybe Leodis McKelvin, the guy from Buffalo. You have a lot of question marks there, and you use the draft to fortify this team."
Eagles' general manager Howie Roseman has said Bradford is not available to be traded. He even said that Bradford will be the Eagles' starting quarterback this season.
Related: Report: Sam Bradford Is 'Mad' Eagles Traded For Second Overall Pick
But can the Eagles get a high-round pick for Bradford? Most likely not.
"They're hoping, again, they're hoping and it's a city of hope, but that's a major problem the Eagles are faced with," Werndl said. "They can say all they want that Bradford is their quarterback, but they have to make a deal. You can't have Bradford, Daniel and Wentz on the same roster. That's my opinion. The other problem the Eagles face is we're getting away from football people that make football decisions. Howie Roseman by trade is a lawyer. I've done Ourlads Guide for a better part of a quarter of a century. We started to get the NFL noticed in the offseason. It's a different animal today. You have all of these people who have infiltrated the ranks that are big into analytics but aren't really great judges of talent."
Werndl remembers going back to the early-1970s when Mike McCormack was the Eagles head coach and traded away draft picks like he was handing out candy. McCormack mortgaged away the Eagles' future to obtain veterans Bill Bergey and Roman Gabriel. The Eagles went from 1974 to 1978 without a first-round draft pick. Their first pick in 1975 didn't come until the seventh round. That's because McMormack traded away the Eagles' first-round draft choice in 1974, and first- and third-round selections in 1975 for the 33-year-old Gabriel. To get Bergey, they traded away their first-round draft choice in 1976 and first- and second-round choices in '77. They didn't dig out of that hole until 1979, when Dick Vermeil selected Jerry Robinson with the 21st overall pick.
Granted, Wentz is not a 33-year-old quarterback with a gimpy knee. He has promise. But is he worth five draft choices for a team that could use the draft to fill weaknesses?
