Eagles Want To Re-Sign Sam Bradford, But Won’t Franchise Him

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Eagles are interested in re-signing QB Sam Bradford, but won’t use the franchise tag on him in the coming weeks.

New Eagles HC Doug Pederson told reporters at the Senior Bowl a few weeks ago that Bradford would “love to be back” in Philadelphia next year.

“Yeah he’d love to be back,” Pederson said, via NJ.com. “That’s a thing we have to continue to look at. I think he is a kid that would definitely fit the kind of offensive structure that I’ll bring.”

However, Pederson said that they’e yet to make a decision as a team whether they want to have Bradford back for the 2016 season.

“Not yet,” Pederson said. “That is something we will continue to look at.”

Pederson confirmed that he has been spoken to Bradford since taking the job and looks forward to working with him.

Eagles personnel executive Howie Roseman mentioned previously that they have time to figure out what they’re going to do at quarterback, and plan to consider all of their available options.

“It’s only January,” Roseman said after Senior Bowl practice, via the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Teams are still playing. So we’ve got some time.

“Obviously, the quarterback is the most important position on the field and it would be disingenuous to say anything else,” Roseman said. “But at the same time, you’ve just got to evaluate the players on your team, evaluate the players in the draft, evaluate the free-agent market, and then start making decisions.”

Bradford, 28, is in the final year of his six-year, $78 million contract that included $50 million guaranteed. He made a base salary of $12.985 million for the 2015 season and will be an unrestricted free agent in the coming months.

The free agent market for quarterbacks isn’t very deep with Bradford, Kirk Cousins, and Ryan Fitzpatrick being the most notable players.

This season, Bradford threw for 3,725 yards while completing 66 percent of his passes to go along with 19 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 12 quarterback out of 37 qualifying players.

We have Bradford featured in our Top 2016 Free Agents list.