Philly Phile | Bradford works fine as high-priced, short-term caretaker

Looking forward to when this guy takes over Eagles offense.

Needed a day to let it sink in.

To let it fully marinate, giving the juices of excuses and rationalizations and pie-in-the-sky fandom a legit chance to envelope the news, the subject, the object, the particulars and those affected by it all.

Ahhh, Sam Bradford is back with the Birds … how delish.

The mind boggles with thoughts of 6-10, 7-9 and, dare we dream, 8-8 dancing around, with, gasp, a TD-to-INT ratio that is slightly better than 1-to-1 and a passing game in general that really stretches the parameters of a small walk-in closet – all with that special caveat of “season-ending surgery” looming over it all.

Seriously, does it get any better?

If mediocrity is the objective, Howie Roseman and Doug Pederson, you freakin’ nailed it, fellas … and all for the bargain price of $18 mil per year this season and next.

What’s that, only $26 mil all told is guaranteed? Someone pinch me.

Howie, you sly dog, you … and Modell’s and others of its profitable sports-merch selling ilk doesn’t even have to slash prices on its stash of No. 7 jerseys now.

Wow …

Kidding and personal disdain for Bradford’s game and its never-ending potential yet to be realized, the Eagles theoretically nailing down their quarterback for 2016-17 isn’t that big a deal one way or the other for the simple reason that they’re not going to do much for a while no matter who the guy behind center is.

They have holes and needs across the board, and, frankly, that includes QB … even with Sammy B back at the helm. For all his proponents, and the vastness of that crowd in these parts completely bamboozled by his final seven games of last season combined with him being a former No. 1 pick AND, most critical of all, unfounded hope, is astounding, the reality is the guy is not the long-term solution here, or anywhere else.

But he certainly is serviceable, especially if he can stay healthy. Consistent? No. But definitely serviceable.

Whether an affinity for Philly was influential in Bradford’s decision to accept the offer doesn’t matter. He took it.
For a year, even two, he’ll do … and, really, it is Jeffrey Lurie’s money, so who really cares how much Bradford continues to pilfer from NFL coffers – until, you know, the Eagles put themselves in a future pickle and unable to secure the rights to players who can really make a difference.

To me, Bradford’s biggest value is simple – with one caveat. Roseman and Co. must draft a quarterback in the upcoming draft first, and then Sam holds the fort to some mediocre level of respectability to keep the fan base on board while the back-channels development of his successor goes on.

Sure hope that Pederson playbook agrees with Paxton Lynch.

​- Jack Kerwin  |  [email protected]
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Love Clemson football.

Have followed the Tigers for close to four decades. It has provided some of the best and most colorful talents to enter the NFL during the time, ranging from William “Fridge” Perry to Bryan Dawkins, an all-time Eagles favorite.

But, now, many are looking at the college program in northwestern South Carolina as about to produce the top prospect in the 2017 draft, the quarterback whose multi-faceted talents dwarf those belonging to any in the current crop of QBs available for next month’s draft.

Don’t count me among them.

Oh, love DeShaun Watson, too, just as much as his school. But his game, really don’t see it translating to the pro level the way others do. He is not the second coming of Cam Newton. He’s about two inches and 55 pounds shy of that. He is not the second coming of Donovan McNabb, either. Or even Randall Cunningham – although comparisons to him by Eagles fans pinning their hopes on the club landing Watson 13 months from now would be more legit.

There is no debating his success in college. This past season, Watson threw for 4,100 yards and rushed for another 1,100 in guiding Clemson into the national title game against eventual champ Alabama.

But he’s not a precision passer, which a team such as the Eagles, under West Coast offense-loving coach Doug Pederson, will require in order to really succeed. He’s a bomber, a trailblazer, a gunslinger who does his damage outside of any scheme, where his athleticism trumps any Xs and Os.

Frankly, he’s a taller, less refined version of Johnny Manziel.

So, love him … but just not as the end-all, be-all for any NFL team seeking their franchise QB in the future, especially not when more standard options such as Paxton Lynch, Jared Goff and Carson Wentz are available this year to the standard-loving NFL.

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