Go ahead, Philadelphia Eagles. Make Sam Bradford's day. He dares you.
Well, not quite. But Bradford, speaking to the Eagles' beat reporters on Tuesday as he and the rest of his teammates settled into their new locker room digs for the start of the 2016 NFL offseason activities, shrugged off the notion of the news Eagles brass, led by first-year head coach Doug Pederson and GM/not GM Howie Roseman, taking a quarterback at some early juncture of the 2016 NFL Draft later this month.
"I really don't pay attention to any of that stuff," Bradford said. "If it happens, it's something I'll deal with when it happens. But if it doesn't happen, there's really no sense in wasting time or thought or energy on that."
Bradford is right. There's nothing he can do. And there's really no other response he can offer but, "oh well, c'est la vie, que sera sera." Or something.
Bradford, for all the talk of his mammoth, gargantuan, unconscionable two-year, $35 million contract extension signed with the Eagles earlier this offseason, is, in all reality, assured just one more season as the starter in midnight green. Sure, that $9.5 million cap recapture penalty would hurt the Eagles if they cut ties after next season, but what if they're cutting ties because some young gun came in and played lights out? That'd certainly take away some of the sting.
Now, were Bradford to play well - and stay healthy - and helm the team to a winning season and maybe even a playoff berth, it's entirely feasible that he returns for 2017 and, potentially, even beyond.
But you can bet all of the money in Jeffrey Lurie's bank account that if the Eagles, as has been reported in just about every major sports news outlet, are able to trade up into the top two or three selections and take their presumptive Quarterback of the Future (cue echo), that Bradford's hold on the starting gig in Philly is going to get all kinds of tenuous, mighty quick.
For now, there's nothing Bradford can do but grin and bear it.
He's being paid a pretty penny to hold down the fort and really, is being given quite the opportunity to lay claim to the job on a more permanent basis. He has this year and maybe next to prove to Roseman, Pederson and Co. that he's worth investing in.
He's got the tools, of course, but he's always had them.
Now, it's up to Bradford to prove (finally) that he's more than the underperforming first-overall pick he's been to this point.
