Bradford crawls back to Eagles
Sam Bradford’s silly standoff with the Eagles ended with a whimper Monday.
The quarterback rescinded his trade demand and reported to Philadelphia’s offseason workout program barely two weeks after throwing his misguided tantrum because the Eagles had moved into position to draft Carson Wentz.
“I’m excited to be back on the field today with my teammates and coaches,” Bradford said in a statement released by agent Tom Condon. “The business side of football is sometimes a necessary consideration.
“My attention and efforts are focused on the participation in and preparation for a championship season: I am committed to my teammates and the Eagles organization for nothing less.”
Bradford had been upset because the Eagles mortgaged their future to move up to the No. 2 pick and take North Dakota State’s Wentz just two months after giving Bradford an extension that included $11 million guaranteed and signing veteran backup Chase Daniel from the Chiefs.
But instead of deciding to compete for the Eagles’ job, Bradford blindsided the team and demanded a trade in late April while vowing to skip the voluntary offseason program until it happened.
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman immediately announced he had no intention of trading Bradford and tried to talk Bradford into ending the dispute by promising him the starting job this season despite the injury-prone former No. 1 overall pick’s 25-37-1 career record. Though that promise only applies to the 2016 season (Bradford can be released or traded at minimal cost next spring), it apparently was enough to lure Bradford back into the fold.
How Bradford will be received by teammates after initially begging out of a competitive situation remains to be seen, but linebacker Connor Barwin said it won’t be an issue.
“At the end of the day, all that we really care about in the locker room is who is the best quarterback who is going to help us win games,” Barwin told Philadelphia radio station WIP. “And I think right now we’re excited and we know we drafted Carson Wentz, but I think most of this locker room — or if not all of us — understand that Sam is our starting quarterback and he’s going to be the best quarterback to help us win next year. ”