The Philadelphia Eagles have gone on a quarterback binge this offseason, but new rumors indicate that the man first tapped as a backup may end up snagging the starting role.
This offseason, coach Chip Kelly traded away the promising Nick Foles to the St. Louis Rams in exchange for Sam Bradford, who has shown flashes of excellent play but been plagued by injury.
It was expected that Bradford would start the 2015 season, but new reports indicate that his latest setback, a season-ending knee injury suffered early into the 2014 season, may not be fully healed. As Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer noted, that could leave an opening for backup Mark Sanchez to once again move into the starting role.
“As Chip Kelly noted, if the Eagles played their regular-season opener Thursday, it would have been “illegal” or something like that. His underlying message: Just because Sam Bradford’s left knee doesn’t appear remotely close to 100 percent healthy on May 28 doesn’t mean that Mark Sanchez will be the starting quarterback 109 days later.
“But with each passing day that Bradford is not completely back from tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, the specter of Sanchez under center on Sept. 14 in Atlanta becomes more and more of a reality.”
The Eagles would likely be comfortable with Sanchez starting. He started eight games last season in relief of the injured Foles, going 4-4 and throwing for 14 touchdowns. Sanchez also had the highest completion percentage of his career at 64.1 percent.
The Eagles may be trying to ease Sam Bradford back into service. While recovery from an ACL tear is nothing new — many player are able to fully bounce back — Bradford had just suffered his second tear in the last 10 months.
Bradford’s hold on the starting spot hasn’t been that airtight, either, as there were rumors that the Philadelphia Eagles and Chip Kelly had their eyes on another quarterback this offseason. The Eagles were one of a handful of teams reportedly interested in trading up to draft Marcus Mariota. Though the Tennessee Titans ended up holding onto the pick and drafting Mariota themselves, the Eagles were reportedly very serious about the Oregon quarterback and at one point appeared to be the frontrunner to land the pick.
There were even rumors that the Eagles might try to trade Bradford to the Cleveland Browns for Johnny Manziel , but those reports later fizzles.
The rumors surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles aren’t likely to lessen anytime soon, with an official determination on a starting quarterback still likely months away.
[Image via Getty Images Sport/ Alex Goodlett]
