Sam Bradford is so mad.
Presumably, at least, but let’s paint the picture—Bradford has a two-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles and wants to be the starter, yet had to watch Thursday in the NFL draft as the team traded up and got Carson Wentz. A No. 2 pick isn’t going to sit long on the bench, if at all. To make matters worse, the Eagles haven’t shown any inclination of surrendering to Bradford’s trade demand.
Which has all led to this, as captured by CBSSports.com’s Will Brinson:
According to Sal Pal on ESPN, Sam Bradford isn’t answering phone calls from Doug Pederson right now.
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) April 29, 2016
Unless Bradford has a broken phone and hasn’t communicated that to anyone else on the planet, things are about to get ugly.
The reaction online has been about as expected, with Ryan Clark summing up the general consensus well:
I see Sam Bradford out here acting like a jilted lover huh? That’s the new move. Got his phone on do not disturb. It’s a business man!
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) April 29, 2016
This isn’t the first bit of anger from Mr. Bradford, either.
When Bradford found out the Eagles were going to trade up, he apparently walked out on the offseason program mid-conversation, as told by Sal Paolantonio, via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:
And they were shocked when they told Bradford that they were going up to No. 2 and they were making the trade and investing five picks, and Bradford’s reaction was one of anger, and he abruptly walked out of the offseason training program.
Well alrighty then.
This is an interesting situation because, well, Bradford is the guy who signed a two-year deal. If he wanted a bigger commitment he probably should have worked for a longer contract. An NFL team has to do what it has to do at the quarterback spot, especially considering Bradford is a guy who missed nine games in 2013, didn’t play in 2014 and missed two games last year.
Will Bradford giving the Eagles the silent treatment get him the trade he desires? Stay tuned.