Philadelphia Eagles Wanted Kirk Cousins, Settled For Sam Bradford

Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman will say all the right things about the signing of Sam Bradford. He’ll tell the fan base that Bradford gives them their best opportunity at winning the NFC East next season and how he is going to be a big part of the future for the Eagles. According to NBC Sports, Kirk Cousins of the Washington Redskins was actually the first choice for Philadelphia before they decided to settle on giving Bradford a new contract extension.

When it comes to quarterback, the Washington Redskins found themselves in a really tough position. Robert Griffin III was supposed to have been their franchise quarterback for much of the decade. However, things simply did not work out, so the Redskins had no choice but to move on. Griffin III will find himself a new home in the NFL next season, and he’ll try to see if he can prove that he belongs in the league.

Kirk Cousins was given the reigns by the Washington Redskins, and he ended up being a pretty good player. Initially, there were some concerns because he was frequently throwing interceptions when he came into the game as a backup. It turned out that Cousins is one of those players that needs rhythm to really be effective. Once he had the starting job, he was able to shine, and shine enough to generate attention from other teams in the NFL.

The Washington Redskins were hesitant to commit a ton of money to Kirk Cousins because he has only had one good season in the NFL. They wanted to look around at all of their options. The Redskins definitely did not want to be backed into a corner where they were forced into making a decision they weren’t entirely comfortable with. Unfortunately for them, that’s what they had to do when the Philadelphia Eagles expressed interest in Cousins.

Since there was a fear that the Philadelphia Eagles might swoop in and make a hard to resist offer to Kirk Cousins, the Washington Redskins decided to give their starting quarterback the franchise tag. That means that the former Michigan State Spartans star will be getting paid $19.95 million for the following season. It’s not the first choice for the Redskins, but they definitely did not want to go into the season without a starting quarterback and with their former starter playing for an NFC East division rival.

Shortly after the Washington Redskins gave the franchise tag to Kirk Cousins, the Philadelphia Eagles quickly agreed to a two year contract extension with Sam Bradford. Just like with the Redskins, the Eagles wanted to make sure that they had a starting quarterback heading into the season. There was interest in Bradford from the San Francisco 49ers, who recently hired former Eagles head coach Chip Kelly to replace Jim Tomsula.

While some will believe that the Philadelphia Eagles opted to go with Sam Bradford because of familiarity, he doesn’t actually have a connection with new head coach Doug Pederson. Kirk Cousins doesn’t have a connection with Pederson either, but he’s much more familiar with the West Coast offensive scheme that the Eagles are running. Bradford played in a spread offense with the Oklahoma Sooners, and he was ran the high paced offense Chip Kelly installed when he was the head coach in Philadelphia.

Players in the NFL need to have thick skin. Sam Bradford shouldn’t worry too much that he was not the first option for the Philadelphia Eagles. General managers and head coaches are always going to have wandering eyes. Bradford just needs to remember that the Eagles are paying him a lot of money to play football.

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