The Rams went all in on Sam Bradford this season. And he’s now out before the season even began.
ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that Bradford tore the ACL in his left knee. It’s the ACL that replaced the ACL Bradford tore last October, after starting the year with 14 touchdown passes and four interceptions.
Per Mortensen, Bradford will miss the entire 2014 campaign. He’ll nevertheless earn his full base salary of $14.015 million, pushing his five-year earnings north of $65 million.
Bradford entered the NFL with significant durability concerns, after missing all of 2009 after a hit that appeared to be routine re-injured his shoulder in the first college football game of the year at Oklahoma. He appeared in all 16 games in 2010, winning the NFL’s offensive rookie of the year award. He was limited to 10 games in 2011 before playing the full season in 2012.
He will end up playing seven total games from 2013 to 2014, at a total salary of more than $23 million in the two seasons combined.
The development comes after the Rams stubbornly displayed a high degree of confidence in Bradford, who’ll now enter the final year of his rookie deal with more questions than ever before. At a base salary of $12.985 million for 2015 and a cap number of $16.58 million, the Rams will have to decide whether to keep Bradford or whether to move on.