Eagles executive V.P. of football operations Howie Roseman joined PFT Live on Monday morning, before word broke of quarterback Sam Bradford skipping out on offseason workouts and requesting a trade. I asked Roseman about the then-hypothetical possibility that Bradford would demand a trade.
“Well, Sam is entitled to his feelings but we’ve made it clear to him and to our fans that he’s our starting quarterback,” Roseman said. “We have an obligation to think about our franchise in terms of the total picture. We’re always making decisions that are for the short term and those of that for the long term and that’s our decision here. To invest in quarterbacks is a long-term decision.”
Bradford may be the starting quarterback for now. But it will be hard for Bradford to remain the starting quarterback, if he’s present only for the single mandatory minicamp of the lengthy offseason program. Here’s another factor working against Bradford: Roseman didn’t declare that the quarterback they take with the second overall pick, Jared Goff or Carson Wentz (Wentz), will sit the bench for his full rookie season.
Asked whether there are any circumstances pursuant to which the rookie quarterback would play in 2016, Roseman said, “I think that’s up to Coach [Doug] Pederson and his staff. We’re very fortunate. One of the other things we put into this decision is the support that that quarterback will be able to have. Whether it’s the quarterback room with Sam and Chase [Daniel] or our head coach in Doug who played in the league, coached the position as an offensive coordinator. [Offensive coordinator] Frank Reich, same background. [John DeFilippo] our quarterback coach with a lot of the same background. So that guy is gonna come along at his own pace. There’s no urgency and that’s kind of the model that Doug watched when he was here as a starting quarterback but I think we look at this for the long term and we have a starting quarterback here who we think we can win with for the short term.”
Pederson was indeed the starter in Philly at the outset of the 1999 season, when Donovan McNabb arrived as a top-five draft pick. Pederson started nine games before yielding to McNabb.
Bradford (or Daniel) could start as many or fewer before Wentz takes over. Regardless, Bradford’s absence, temporary or permanent, necessarily gives Wentz a chance to accelerate the timetable for playing.