Domo killing it in his column today:
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/364586031.html#FzWdqWkOC8cDJkMh.99
Re-sign SamMuch like scotch, Sam Bradford is an acquired taste. Or at least he has been for Eagles fans this season.
At the beginning of the season, there was very little enthusiasm for the guy. He was coming off his second ACL tear and was adjusting to yet another new offensive system and a whole new cast of teammates.
For most of the first half of the year, his play, like that of the entire offense, was inconsistent. But then he found his stride.
Bradford's 97.4 passer rating over his last seven starts was the eighth-best mark in the league over the last nine weeks of the season (he missed two games with a concussion and shoulder injury).
The only seven quarterbacks with higher passer ratings over that period: Russell Wilson (119.6), Kirk Cousins (117.7), Cam Newton (115.0), Drew Brees (106.3), Matthew Stafford (105.1), Carson Palmer (101.2) and Alex Smith (100.8).
His 100.7 third-down passer rating in his last seven starts was the sixth best in the league, behind only Wilson (128.3), Cousins (118.5), Newton (116.5), Palmer (116.1) and Teddy Bridgewater (104.2).
Third down was one of two areas in which Bradford dramatically improved in the second half of the season. His third-down numbers in his first seven starts were abysmal - a 47.9 completion percentage, a league-low 4.04 yards per attempt and a 51.8 rating. Just 25.3 percent of his third-down attempts resulted in first downs.
In his last seven starts, however, he had a 62.2 third-down completion percentage and averaged 6.9 yards per attempt. Thirty-one of his 74 third-down pass attempts, or 41.9 percent, went for first downs in those seven games.
LAST 7 STARTS................FIRST 7 STARTS
Comp Pct. YPA TD-INT Rate/Comp. Pct. YPA TD-INT Rate
1ST DOWN 69.9 8.5 4-2 100.4/ 65.8 6.7 4-6 74.7
2nd DOWN 73.7 7.2 2-2 91.4/ 69.9 8.1 3-2 96.1
3rd DOWN 62.2 6.9 4-0 100.7/ 47.9 4.0 1-2 51.8
OVERALL 68.5 7.6 10-4 97.4/ 62.0 6.4 9-10 76.3
The other area that Bradford showed night-and-day improvement over his last seven starts was in his intermediate passing. According to Pro Football Focus, he had a 129.7 passer rating on throws of 10 to 19 yards in his last seven games. Completed an impressive 72.6 percent of his throws from that distance and averaged 14.6 yards per attempt. Had seven touchdowns and three interceptions.
In his first seven starts, Bradford's passer rating on throws of 10 to 19 yards was just 48.0. Had a 40.4 passer rating and averaged 7.8 yards per attempt. Three touchdowns and six interceptions.
In my mind, there is absolutely no doubt that the Eagles should re-sign Bradford to a long-term contract. And if they can't get a deal done by the end of February, I would put the franchise tag on him while I continued negotiating with his agent, Tom Condon.
I know he has a 25-37-1 career record as a starter.
I know he's never taken a team to the playoffs.
And I know he's missed 33 of 96 games with injuries, including 25 with two ACL tears.
But one of the few things I agreed with Chip Kelly on was that Bradford can be a franchise quarterback.
There are people I respect, people like former Eagles linebacker and current 94WIP afternoon co-host Ike Reese, who don't feel Bradford has proven he's worth the money it's going to take to sign him.
But good quarterbacks don't grow on trees. I mean, does anybody around here really have the stomach to watch Mark Sanchez start 16 games next season?
Are you willing to gamble on RGIII or suffer through the growing pains of a rookie quarterback or sign one of the other more affordable free agents-to-be not named Bradford, like Matt Cassel or Matt Schaub or Chad Henne or . . . Michael Vick? Or, I got an idea. How about they do a trade-back for Nick Foles?
Take a gander at the contracts of the league's quarterbacks. None of them come cheap. Not the great ones or the not-so-great ones. There currently are 19 QBs who have a 2016 cap number of $15 million or more, including nine at $20 million-plus.
The cap is going to take another fairly significant jump in 2016. And if you look at most of the top quarterback deals that have been done in the last couple of years, the deal usually is structured so that the first year includes a much lower cap number than the rest of the deal.
The new four-year, $87.6 million deal Russell Wilson signed with the Seahawks in July included a $7 million cap number this year. Carson Palmer's cap number last year after he signed his three-year, $49.5 million extension with the Cardinals was $7.4 million.
So re-signing Bradford isn't going to rob the Eagles of their cap flexibility.