The first half of the season was likely something Sam Bradford wants to forget. The quarterback struggled heavily in his first stint of games with the Philadelphia Eagles, but over the past four games the quarterback has begun to look like the franchise player Chip Kelly was hoping for when he made the trade with the St. Louis Rams. Now playing well in the system, a contract for Bradford is a priority moving forward.
Bradford came to the Eagles with an expiring contract to his name and it has been a debate as to whether or not the team would aim to re-sign him considering his 3-4 record to start the year off. However, as the Eagles are now winners of their last three of four games, Kelly is beginning to think about the future with Bradford.
"Name any quarterback playing at a really high level now and they've been playing in the system for years, not for months, and that's what Sam's case is," Kelly said, via the Philadelphia Inquirer. "He's just been playing in our system for months. But I've said it and I'll continue to say it, I just see improvement from Sam on a weekly basis that gets you excited about him."
Kelly told the media that the Eagles would not have traded for Bradford if they did not intend to keep him around in 2016. NJ.com reported the team attempted to sign the quarterback before the year began and Bradford declined. He will be aiming to cash in come free agency and the Eagles will be forced to meet the demands or look elsewhere for a new quarterback. For Bradford's part, he is only thinking about the short-term and keeping the wins coming as the NFC East sits in a three-way tie for first place.
"I think more than anything, as opposed to changing anything on the field, I think the past couple weeks I have just tried to provide leadership to this group," Bradford said, via ESPN.com. "I don't think you can let what's happened in the past affect the way you prepare for a game or alter your style. I think that we can perform at a higher level. Obviously, we're still not great out there."
With the receiving game coming alive for the Eagles, their biggest issue is the run game. Ryan Mathews started Week 14 despite the complaints from DeMarco Murray. The former NFL leading rusher appears to have fallen to third on the depth chart at the moment and while no one expects him to be traded or released at the end of the season, the Eagles need to figure out where they stand with Murray. Adam Caplan of ESPN.com reported that Kelly and Murray met to discuss the offense, but the running back was given no security in terms of his role for the rest of the year.
