No matter what you think of Sam Bradford as a quarterback, the NFL needs more moves like the one the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings worked out Saturday. The deal sending Bradford from the Eagles to the Vikings showed what can happen when two teams know who they are, know what they need and aren't afraid to act decisively.
That is the big-picture view. The deal is more complicated than that, of course. Assessing specifically how each team fared requires taking a closer look at the particulars. We do that here, leveraging insights from league insiders to consider aspects of the deal with significant ramifications.
Philadelphia Eagles
Grade: A
The Eagles landed a 2017 first-round pick and a 2018 fourth-rounder for a player who did not figure into their plans beyond this season.
We can't give the Eagles credit for knowing another team would find itself desperate for a starting quarterback as the season approached, but we can credit them for knowing a team can't go wrong investing heavily in the game's most important position. Great general managers such as Ron Wolf have preached for years the need to continually add quarterbacks. Former Wolf underlings Ted Thompson and John Schneider followed this advice famously, leading them to draft Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson, respectively, even though neither team needed a starter at the time.
The Eagles endured an offseason of criticism for their handling of the quarterback situation. They re-signed Bradford to a deal with $22 million guaranteed. Then they signed free-agent backup Chase Daniel for $7 million a year. Then they mortgaged their future to draft Carson Wentz second overall. Philly's maneuvering looked like a disjointed mess, but from the Eagles' perspective, they were simply pursuing the best available avenues as those avenues presented themselves. They had to make a decision on Bradford before they knew they had a shot at Wentz. It didn't always look like a coherent plan, but the worst-case scenario was having too many quarterbacks.
Bradford wound up costing the Eagles a package including Nick Foles, a 2015 fourth-round pick and a 2016 second-rounder. Philly used Bradford as a short-term rental and as insurance before shipping him to Minnesota for a 2017 first-rounder and a 2018 fourth-rounder. The Eagles can now move forward with both Daniel and Wentz, with the rookie getting a chance to start Week 1 if healthy. They also recoup some of the draft capital spent during their maneuvering for Wentz. Bradford, who made no friends when he whined about Wentz's selection, is no longer in their way.
Minnesota Vikings
Grade: B
The Vikings took the opposite approach to the quarterback position when they decided against doing anything that might threaten Bridgewater. For example, they had a shot at signing Tyrod Taylor before the 2015 season, but they didn't pursue the move because Taylor was determined to compete for a starting job. The Vikings proceeded with Shaun Hill instead. They knew Hill would mentor Bridgewater instead of threatening him. The trade-off was knowing they would find themselves in desperate straits if Bridgewater suffered a serious injury.
Those desperate straits arrived this past week when Bridgewater sustained a dislocated knee. The B grade I'm giving the Vikings can easily upgrade to an A if Bradford plays well enough for Minnesota to pursue its championship dreams. It becomes an A-plus if Bradford improbably realizes the potential nearly every team saw in him as the first overall choice in the 2010 draft. The price Minnesota paid for Bradford shows the Vikings realize they could not know for sure whether Bridgewater will regain his status as their franchise quarterback.
There are many knocks on Bradford. The 42 GMs, executives, personnel directors and coaches I surveyed for our 2016 QB Tiers project questioned Bradford's toughness. They thought he wilted under pressure. They complained about his body language.
"I thought he was a talented guy, a little weak mentally, just watching how he plays" a head coach said. "And he can't stay healthy. When he did the thing in Philadelphia [complaining about Wentz's selection], that really turned me off."
Bradford is only 28 years old, but he has undergone two ACL surgeries. He finished last season with a total of 78 career touchdown passes and $78 million in career earnings. There's a perception that Bradford, for all his faults, played quite well late last season, but he ranked 23rd in Total QBR (51.2) over the Eagles' final eight games. Was he really that much better, or was he simply no longer as bad? Bradford finished 28th in QB Tiers balloting, placing him deep into the third of five tiers. Since entering the league, he ranks last in passer rating (81.0) and Total QBR (40.5) among the 20 quarterbacks with at least 2,000 pass attempts over that six-season span.
"He has the arm talent, I think he is a smart guy, I think he is a little [soft], which came out the way he handled his business to begin with this offseason," a QB coach said. "I just don't see the decision-making, consistent accuracy and the fortitude that [makes me think] we have a shot to win every Sunday."
That is only part of the story. Is Bradford a soft quarterback with bad body language, or did circumstances simply make him look like one? How many quarterbacks could endure what Bradford has endured -- constant coaching turnover, bad supporting casts, serious injuries -- and come out OK on the other side? When Bradford was with the Rams, he initially suffered from a historically bad roster. And the Eagles' decline was well underway when Bradford stepped into their starting lineup last season.
Before this trade, a personnel director singled out Bradford and Ryan Tannehill as two underperforming quarterbacks who could take a jump under their new coaches. Bradford was tethered to Eagles coach Doug Pederson at the time, but the move to Minnesota could be even better for him.
"Bradford, the poor guy -- he has been beaten down," this personnel director said. "Think of every place he has been. He has never had weapons. They were awful on the O-line in Philly last year."
Bradford goes from working under a first-time head coach to joining a Vikings team with impeccable infrastructure. What quarterback wouldn't want to play for a team with head coach Mike Zimmer, offensive coordinator Norv Turner and running back Adrian Peterson? The offensive line in Minnesota was leaky last season, but plenty of coaches will tell you line play across the league is awful in general. There are no perfect situations.
Changing systems frequently has worked against Bradford most of his career, but his experience in Brian Schottenheimer's 3-digit offense could make him a faster study under Turner. And the reality is, just about any viable quarterback can win with a defense as good as the one in Minnesota. The Vikings held opponents to 20 or fewer points a dozen times last season. Bridgewater has a 14-4 career record when opponents fail to reach 21 points. Hill is also 14-4 in those games, while Bradford's record in them is 19-10. What the Vikings are getting here is more than a QB who can win the games every QB should win. They're getting a QB with the raw physical talent to do more.
"The league needs more trades like this one," a longtime NFL executive said Saturday. "It helps one team immediately and helps the other team in the long term. And it can help both in the long term. Both teams accomplished their goals. Hopefully this encourages other teams to make trades."