Desperate Vikings give up a lot to get Sam Bradford from Eagles
On Saturday morning, the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings pulled off one of the few “wow” trades you’ll see in the NFL.
The Eagles sent quarterback Sam Bradford, who was unhappy in Philly after the team drafted Carson Wentz, to the Vikings, who just lost Teddy Bridgewater to a season-ending knee injury. And it wasn’t cheap: The Vikings sent a first-round pick and a fourth-round pick to the Eagles, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport.
Wow, indeed.
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That investment shows the Vikings are serious about being a contender in 2016. They weren’t going to be that with Shaun Hill at quarterback. They might not be a contender with the perennially mediocre Bradford either, but they clearly feel that Bradford can help them defend their NFC North title if they’re willing to give up first- and fourth-round picks to the Eagles for what might be a one-year rental. Although, the trade might also indicate the Vikings are nervous about Bridgewater being healthy to start the 2017 season. Bradford is under contract for two seasons. The only way the trade starts to make sense for the Vikings is if they’re viewing Bradford as a two-year starter because they know Bridgewater could miss two years.
The problem with giving up so much for Bradford is that Bradford has never been an above-average NFL quarterback. Bradford, the first pick of the 2010 draft, has just an 81 career rating. He had 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions last season, and that was arguably the best season of his career. He has never played up to the promise he had coming out of the University of Oklahoma, but supposedly untapped potential has caused multiple teams to keep investing.
The Eagles had a weird offseason, but this is a great trade for them. They re-signed Bradford, then signed Chase Daniel for $7 million a year, then traded a ton of picks to move up and draft Wentz. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but they were able to get out of playing Bradford $18 million a year over the next two seasons and also recoup some of the picks they gave up in the Wentz deal. Although Daniel looked like he might be elevated to start, reports say Wentz will start Week 1 if he’s healthy.
In an even stranger twist to a crazy trade, Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips seemed to break the news to the world:
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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