January 11, 2016
The dumbest argument in these chaotic early days of the Eagles off-season is over whether Sam Bradford should be the team’s next franchise quarterback.
This just in: He already is.
One of the few positive stories that emerged from a season that got Chip Kelly fired was the surprising rebirth of their oft-injured, much-maligned quarterback. Bradford was not just OK in his first season in Philadelphia; he was excellent. The only thing he lacked was a fair appraisal of his work.
Bradford’s most encouraging accomplishment was walking off the field after the last game eight days ago in North Jersey. Most of his naysayers were predicting another catastrophic knee injury long before he ever reached the end of the season. Two ACL surgeries and two long rehabs tend to bring out the negativity in football analysts.
What was far more impressive than his good health — he did miss two games with a concussion and non-throwing shoulder injury — was his improvement over the course of the season and his uncanny accuracy. The man came as advertised, throwing the endless short routes demanded by Kelly, but also some deep balls.
In fact, Bradford’s 65 percent completion rate is the best single-season mark in Eagles history. I’ll repeat that for the slow readers. Sam Bradford connected on a better percentage of his passes this year than Norm Van Brocklin, Sonny Jurgensen, Ron Jaworski, Randall Cunningham or Donovan McNabb ever did as an Eagle.
Now add to that accomplishment the fact that Bradford did so with a group of wide receivers who dropped more balls than any corps in the NFL, played behind one of the worst offensive lines in recent Eagles history and was running a system that valued speed over efficiency.
Sam Bradford is the best quarterback the Eagles have had since McNabb, and he has a chance to be better than all of them. His problem is one of perception, not performance. And for that, he has only himself to blame.
After the shocking trade that brought Bradford to the Birds for Nick Foles and a second-round draft pick, the whispers had already started that the newest Eagle was a bit odd, standoffish, reluctant to serve as a leader on and off the field. And indeed he was awkward most of the time in public, measuring each word and offering little insight. The one thing he failed at this season was selling himself.
However, behind the scenes he displayed an entirely different personality. By the end of a lost season, Bradford became known among teammates for fiery pre-game speeches, perhaps trying to fill a void created by the unemotional Kelly. And while very few players rushed to support the coach after the abrupt firing, many openly campaigned for the quarterback.
The Eagles are already two weeks into their coaching search, and Kelly’s replacement will no doubt have some say on whether the team places the franchise tag (and at least a $20-million salary) on Bradford, negotiates a long-term deal or lets him become a free agent.
The truth is, it doesn’t really matter who the coach is. Would the available quarterbacks like Robert Griffin III or Colin Kaepernick represent a more promising future for the Eagles than a player who excelled the way Bradford did despite all the obstacles?
What the Birds need to do now — right now — is start talking to Bradford about a long-term deal, knowing they will bring him back under the franchise tag if his demands are too high. After a season with the new coach, Bradford will either lower his price to stay here, or the Eagles will have a clearer read on his durability and chances to succeed long-term.
The debate will continue for the next few weeks in this busy off-season of questions, but know this: If Sam Bradford is not the starting quarterback next season, the Eagles will be in even more trouble than they are right now.
Whether they know it or not, they have found their quarterback. Now it’s time to start filling all of the other holes.
Howie Roseman is clueless. Let’s start with that nugget of reality as we explore the most recent developments in the Eagles coaching hunt.
The re-born personnel guru presided over the final years of Andy Reid’s tenure here and the first two years of Chip Kelly’s brief reign. Since he wrested power away from ex-president Joe Banner, the Eagles have not won a playoff game. Among Roseman’s biggest gaffes are first-round disasters Danny Watkins and Marcus Smith.
And now, because owner Jeffrey Lurie doesn’t know the definition of insanity, Roseman is leading another search for the right man to coach the Eagles. Already, they have held marathon interviews with many of the top assistants on other teams, with more to come in the days ahead.
It is no coincidence that the Eagles, until today, did not interview a single candidate who had ever been a head coach in the NFL. The Jon Grudens, Brian Billicks or Bill Cowhers would never agree to place their fate in the hands of a glorified accountant like Roseman. That’s why they haven’t even been called.
Yes, Tom Coughlin has been talking to them today, but the Eagles will not hire him. You read it here first. He will either demand a major say in personnel right from the start, or will do the same thing Kelly did and issue an ultimatum after his first sign of success. No one who knows football wants to work with Roseman.
Just ask Kelly or Tom Gamble or Jason Licht or Ed Marynowitz or Louis Riddick or Mark Ross. They all tried to co-exist with Roseman, and quickly saw him as an obstacle to success. Already, rumors about Gruden included Lurie’s worries that a Super-Bowl winner would not “play nice” with Roseman. Sean McDermott wasn’t even on the interview list, for a very good reason; the ex-Eagle coach and Roseman are – shall we say? – not close.
The Birds will name a coach soon, and they will crow about the process Roseman created, a thorough and exhaustive vetting that eliminated any doubt that they picked the wrong guy. Of course, what they won’t acknowledge is that they used the exact same approach, with the same people, when they hired Kelly three years ago.
I said it here last week, and I will say it again now. This coaching hunt will not end well, nor will any future coaching hunts if Roseman is involved. That’s not a guess. That’s a guarantee.
The best GM in Philadelphia sports right now is Ron Hextall. Now, I realize this is not exactly an extraordinary feat since one of the other GMs (Matt Klentak) is brand new and the remaining two are named Howie Roseman and Sam Hinkie. But still, Hextall is doing an amazing job in his second year running the Flyers.
And last week presented his biggest accomplishment, the trade of overpaid, over-the-hill forward Vinny Lecavalier. No one believed it was possible to find a taker for one of the worst contracts in the NHL. The Flyers were paying Lecavalier $2.25 million this season, with two more years to go on his deal, before Los Angeles rescued them.
When word circulated last week that Hextall had convinced the Kings to take Lecavalier and Luke Schenn, no one even bothered to ask what the team got in return. Freeing $4 million of salary-cap space was more than a generous reward for dumping two bad salaries. (The Flyers did get so-so prospect Jordan Weal and agreed to pay half of the bloated salaries of both players for this season.)
This was exactly the kind of trade the Phillies made under the absurd seven-year tenure of Ruben Amaro, except this time a Philadelphia team was the beneficiary. Hextall is the anti-Amaro. He actually gets other teams to take our bad contracts. Imagine that.
Now the job is going to get even harder, because Hextall still has to wriggle enough room under the cap to add to the Flyers’ impotent offense. Paul Holmgren was never really criticized for his futile eight years as GM, but Hextall clearly has been entrusted with cleaning up his predecessor’s mess.
And after that amazing deal for Vinny Lecavalier, Hextall may be just the man for the job.
• For what it’s worth, here’s a wholehearted endorsement of Tom Coughlin for the Eagles head-coaching job. Yes, he’s old at 69 and finished poorly with the Giants, but at least Coughlin proved he knows how to win in the NFL. Also, his players have always loved him. If anyone can deal with Howie Roseman, it’s Tom Coughlin.
• Is there a bigger jackass in sports than DeSean Jackson? The ex-Eagle gloated shamelessly after Chip Kelly was fired, then came up small (2 catches, 17 yards) in Washington’s first-round playoff loss. The classy thing to do would have been to wish his old coach well and then have a great game. Not Jackson. Once a punk, always a punk.
• Chip Kelly has received one job interview in the NFL so far, and it appears he didn’t dazzle the 49ers last week. Cincinnati offensive coordinator Hue Jackson is reported to be the prohibitive favorite in San Francisco. Remember three years ago, when Kelly was at the top of every list? How sobering is this second time around for the ex-Eagle coach?
• Mike Piazza’s election to the Hall of Fame last week was the first noteworthy local baseball story in months here. The Norristown, Pa. native is a worthy inductee, and his honor served to remind sports fans here that baseball is still a major American sport. That is a lot more than the Phillies have proven during this excruciatingly boring off-season.
• By all accounts, Jerry Colangelo orchestrated the returns of both Ish Smith and Elton Brand in the past few weeks, and he was instrumental in adding Mike D’Antoni to the coaching staff. Just two questions: Should we still “trust the process”? And what exactly is GM Sam Hinkie doing now? Hey, I have a right to ask, don’t I?
