The chance to test the market in free agency is tempting to many NFL players.
Not Sam Bradford.
The Eagles’ quarterback was set to become a free agent for the first time in his professional career on March 9 at 4 p.m., but the former No. 1-overall pick said he just wanted to be back in Philadelphia. He wasn’t tempted to hit the open market.
“Not at all,” said Bradford, speaking at a press conference minutes after officially signing his new two-year deal to return to the Eagles.
“I really enjoyed my time here last year. I built some great relationships here with some of those guys and that’s who I want to take the field with on Sundays, and that’s why I wanted to come back here. And so, there really wasn’t any temptation for me to [test the market]. I told my agent after the season was over that this was where I wanted to be, and I wanted him to get me back here and I’m thankful that he did.”
Bradford and the Eagles agreed to terms of a new two-year contract worth a reported $36 million, with $26 million guaranteed, on Tuesday. The deal prevented Bradford from becoming a free agent and offered him a chance to build on his late-season success in 2015.
Did Bradford have a sense of what the market for him would have been had he reached free agency?
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“That wasn’t really in my thoughts,” he said. “I didn’t really talk about that with my agent. I told him I wanted to come back here and to get it done here. We really didn’t talk about what the other options were.”
While it’s possible there wasn’t much of a market for the veteran quarterback, Bradford claimed he wasn’t interested either way.
He just wanted to be back in Philly.
"I really wish he would have told me three days ago that he only wanted to be back here,” said Eagles vice president of football operations Howie Roseman, who handled the negotiations with Bradford’s agent, Tom Condon. “That probably would have helped me a little bit."
Bradford, 28, came to the Eagles last offseason in a trade for Nick Foles and a second-round pick. Former head coach and de facto general manager Chip Kelly, who was fired on Dec. 29, executed that trade. Kelly traded for Bradford and Bradford found success in the second half of the season under Kelly, but on Thursday said he didn’t think about following his former coach to San Francisco.
Meanwhile, Bradford said he had conversations with Roseman shortly after the end of the 2015 season. In those conversations, Roseman expressed that the Eagles wanted him back.
“Right after the season I had some conversations with them, so I was hoping those were credible and that they were honest in those conversations,” Bradford said.
The peculiar thing about Bradford’s new deal with the Eagles is the length. He’s back with the Eagles, but only on a two-year deal.
Bradford said the length — or lack thereof — of his new deal wasn’t a concern for him. Still, would he have preferred a longer contract?
“I would have preferred a hundred-year deal if they wanted to give it to me,” he answered. “But, like I said, I just wanted to be back in Philadelphia and my agent felt like it was a great deal for both sides. I think the organization felt the same way. I think as long as I continue to play the way I know I can, it shouldn’t really matter.”
Bradford’s only season with the Eagles was a rollercoaster. He was able to play 14 games coming off a second ACL surgery, so that was promising. He also played much better in the second seven games of his season, when he completed 68.2 percent of his passes with 1,959 yards (280 per game), 10 touchdowns and four interceptions, for a passer rating of 97.0.
That late-season success, paired with some initial conversations with Bradford, proved to first-year head coach Doug Pederson that he wanted Bradford back as his quarterback in 2016.
“What he did toward the end of the season last year, building on that,” Pederson said. “He mentioned continuity, he knows the team, he knows the players. It might be a little bit different set of plays we’re installing, but he knows the guys and that right there leads me to believe we can have success with him at quarterback, but also with the team and making that run.”
Like Bradford’s 2015, his career as a whole has had plenty of ups and downs. And far more downs than he probably expected when he was taken first overall in the 2010 draft.
In the six years since he was drafted, Bradford hasn’t played extremely well, but he’s also dealt with injuries and coaching turnover. The quarterback acknowledged those challenges, as well as his struggles, on Thursday.
“But I think my best days are ahead of me,” he said.