3, 2016, to the Minnesota Vikings for a pair of draft picks.
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And most fans seem to think the Eagles made the right move by targeting Minnesota for a trade after the Vikings lost starting QB Teddy Bridgewater for the season earlier this week. Was it because Sitton refused to renegotiate his $6.5-million salary, in the past year of his contract?
That move came courtesy of a trade, as the Vikings acquired quarterback Sam Bradford in a swap with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Bradford was never a great fantasy option in Philadelphia and things will stay the same in Minnesota. “No one knows how long it’s going to take Teddy to recover”, Spielman said. “It was just that, as we looked at the offer and what it could do for our football team going forward, we felt like it was in the best interest of our team (to do it)”.
So, the season opens next week with the Giants in Dallas facing rookie Zak Prescott and the Eagles beginning at home against Cleveland with journeyman Chase Daniel as the starter until first-round pick Carson Wentz is ready. Carson Wentz, selected with the No. 2 overall pick, missed the last three preseason games after breaking his ribs. However, Roseman said coach Doug Pederson would decide who starts against the Browns next Sunday.
Pederson wasn’t in the building Saturday because his father, Gordon, passed away Friday night.
When the Eagles traded Sam Bradford for a first-rounder and a fourth on Saturday, they seriously accelerated Wentz’s ascent into becoming the Eagles’ starting and franchise quarterback.
Even with Adrian Peterson as the anchor of the offense, the Vikings were facing the reality of turning the fortunes of this season to Hill, who hadn’t started since coming on in relief for Bradford in St. Louis when the Oklahoma product tore his ACL in 2014. “It was Shurmur who convinced the organization that Bradford had the intelligence and the work ethic to learn Norv Turner’s offense quickly”. The 28-year-old veteran has played just two complete seasons since the St. Louis Rams took him off the board with the first pick in the 2010 draft. Almost half of second round picks do.
The Eagles, under new leadership in 2016, signed Bradford to a two-year, $36 million contract in March. The first-round pick missed the entire preseason with an Achilles tendon injury, but coach Jay Gruden has not ruled Doctson out for the season opener September 12 against Pittsburgh. Shurmur and Bradford also spent the 2015 season together in Philadelphia. The Eagles are trading the guy they decided would give them the best chance to win. The Eagles were 7-9 last season and would’ve been in rebuilding mode in a division other than the weak NFC East.
“We felt this was a very rare and unique opportunity to add a quarterback of Sam’s caliber”, Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said, adding: “We did not mortgage the future in my mind”. They still owe the Browns their first round pick next year and their second-round pick in 2018 after swapping No. 1s this year and also giving up their third and fourth round picks and getting back a No. 6 next year.
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Other Saturday trades • Kansas City sent cornerback Marcus Cooper to Arizona for an undisclosed draft pick, then sent wide receiver Rod Streater and an undisclosed pick to San Francisco for another undisclosed selection.
