Philadelphia Eagles Could Still Draft Quarterback In First Round

Sam Bradford’s presence doesn’t eliminate the possibility of the Philadelphia Eagles taking a quarterback in the first round of the NFL Draft.

Earlier this week, there were reports that Philadelphia Eagles general manager head of football operations Howie Roseman and head coach Doug Pederson flew to California to hold a private workout with California quarterback Jared Goff. This confused some people, since Goff is projected to be a first round draft pick. They wondered why would the Eagles spend a first round pick on a quarterback after already giving a lot of money to Sam Bradford and Chase Daniel.

One Eagles writer couldn’t seem to wrap his mind around it:

It is apparently inconceivable that a sports team can attempt to plan for the long-term without completely giving up hope of short-term success. Admittedly, this is a rare phenomenon in professional sports. Most GMs and coaches are primarily concerned with the immediate future, because if the team doesn’t succeed within a few years, they’ll likely be replaced before they can enact any sort of long-term plan.

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For a local example, look at the Philadelphia Flyers for most of their existence. Draft picks and young players were often discarded in exchange for veteran players who could get the team into the playoffs and possibly engage in an unlikely run for the Stanley Cup.

It’s much rarer to see a team worry exclusively about its long-term goals while completely abandoning hope of competing in the short team. It just so happens that one of the city’s teams has engaged in such a campaign, which is why it is so prominent in the minds of many Philadelphia Eagles fans.

The Eagles don’t seem to be going “full Holmgren” or “full Hinkie.” They’re attempting to find a middle ground in which they try to win next season while still setting themselves up for years to come.

Unless they were going to write off the 2016 season, the Philadelphia Eagles needed a quarterback, and they decided that Sam Bradford was the best available option. He may not be one of the elite quarterbacks in the league, but you could certainly see Bradford leading the Eagles to an NFC East title next season. At the same time, the Philadelphia Eagles have strongly indicated that they don’t consider Bradford to be their long-term answer at the position. He’s only signed for two years, and it wouldn’t be a crippling cap hit if they parted ways after one year.

Perhaps the confusion is because in recent years, when teams spent first round picks on a quarterback, that quarterback was usually named the starter immediately. But if the Eagles take a quarterback in the first round, they will likely break with that trend. None of the quarterbacks in the draft look capable of making an immediate impact, and Pederson has said he thinks it is beneficial for a young quarterback to sit at the beginning of his career.

The Eagles apparently consider it a very real possibility to take a quarterback with the eighth pick and then have him sit for at least a season. Shorr-Parks does raise a good point about that strategy:

Using that first round pick on a quarterback essentially means the Philadelphia Eagles will get zero contribution from the first two rounds of the draft this year. That certainly won’t help the team succeed in 2016, but nobody said it was easy to balance short-term and long-term goals.

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The Philadelphia Eagles may end up going in a different direction in the first round. They may opt to pick a player at a different position and then choose a quarterback later in the draft. But if they do so, it likely won’t be because of Sam Bradford.