Not only did the Cardinals bench Sam Bradford after three games, they made him their inactive third quarterback to take money out of his pocket.
He’s doing his best to take the high road, at least.
Via Darren Urban of the team’s official website, Bradford talked to reporters Friday for the first time since his benching, and admitted it wasn’t fun being in his current spot.
“It is challenging,” Bradford said. “But you kind of have to push your pride aside. My role has changed. But I still have a job to do, I’m still part of this team, and I am still going to do everything I can to help this team. It’s just figuring it out how I can do that in this new role.”
The new role includes not getting a uniform on game days, so the team can save money. By making Mike Glennon the backup to rookie Josh Rosen, the Cardinals don’t have to pay Bradford his weekly $312,500 active roster bonuses. While that will cost Bradford more than $4 million if this arrangement lasts the rest of the year, he’s still making $16 million there this year, which allows him to be diplomatic about it.
“I think I understand it,” he said. “Anyone would like to be out there. But I get that.”
Bradford was utterly unremarkable in his first three starts, completing 50-of-80 passes for 400 yards, with two touchdowns and four interceptions. They also lost all three of those games, which made the decision to go with the first-round pick an easy one.
“I think it was pretty obvious why (coach Steve Wilks) made it,” Bradford said. “Obviously I wish I would’ve played better, that’s for sure. I wish I could’ve helped this team get off to a better start.”
That means when he makes his return to Minnesota this weekend, he’ll be doing it as a spectator.