How The Eagles’ Plan To Acquire Its QB Of The Future May Backfire

Six days ago, the Philadelphia Eagles pulled off a huge trade to move up to the No. 2 spot in the 2016 Draft. In case you missed it, Philly sent three 2016 picks (Nos. 8, 77, and 100) along with a 2017 first-round pick and a 2018 second-round pick to the Browns for the second pick and a 2017 fourth-round selection. It’s a move that the team made to select either Cal quarterback Jared Goff or North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz.

It’s a, for lack of a better word, peculiar deal considering the Eagles’ current quarterback situation. Philly has a starting-caliber quarterback in Sam Bradford, who played well down the stretch in 2015 and is under contract for another two seasons. They also signed Chase Daniel to a three-year, $21 million deal during the offseason. Basically, it doesn’t seem like the Eagles needed to do this deal, especially when the team has other holes in the roster other than quarterback, and it could really use the five top-100 picks over the next three years that they traded away.

But it looks like the team has a plan. It’s safe to assume that it wants to draft Goff or Wentz, let them sit for two years (which both guys can probably use, as Goff has to do the dreaded “air raid to pro style” transition while Wentz is coming from FCS), and have whichever guy they choose take over for Bradford in 2018.

There’s just one problem: this plan is contingent on Bradford essentially viewing himself as the stopgap between now and then. This is something that Bradford is not willing to do, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

In fairness to the Eagles, they have an objectively decent plan in theory. Not rushing a young quarterback is the ideal scenario for any team, but it’s a plan that is contingent on having a guy who is willing to be the bridge for however many years. It’s also a plan that the Eagles apparently thought they could execute, but it’s becoming abundantly clear that’s not the case due to Bradford’s desire to be a long-term option at quarterback.

As for where Philly goes now, there are a few realistic paths. They can trade Bradford, grab Goff or Wentz, and hope that their QB situation works itself out. They can select Goff or Wentz anyway and hope that Bradford plays ball. If they want to do something really fun, they can take a non-QB at the No. 2 spot or trade the pick.

But no matter what, the Eagles are the most interesting team to watch over the next few days. They very clearly have a plan for their quarterback situation, and to be fair, it’s totally plausible that they draft one of the young signal callers in this draft, have to start him on day one, and everything works out for them. But based on what Bradford’s camp has said over the last few days, it looks like the team’s original plan is blowing up in their faces.

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