Veteran quarterback Sam Bradford, who has $15 million guaranteed from the Arizona Cardinals, was released by the team Saturday.
Since being benched for rookie Josh Rosen in Week 4, Bradford, who signed with the Cardinals in March, has been an inactive third quarterback. That is because Bradford was due a bonus of more than $300,000 for each game he was among the active 46 players on game day.
Other than two first-quarter touchdown passes against the Chicago Bears in Week 3, Bradford never looked comfortable in the offense under former coordinator Mike McCoy. In his brief time with the Cardinals, Bradford completed 50-of-80 passes for 400 yards with two touchdowns, four interceptions, six sacks, two lost fumbles and a passer rating of 62.5.
McCoy was fired and Byron Leftwich became the new offensive coordinator.
Bradford is still due the balance of his $5 million guaranteed salary, along with the $10 million signing bonus he received and the per-game bonus money from the first three weeks.
Because Bradford’s release is after the trade deadline, he will go on waivers, where any team that wants a quarterback can claim him. If he goes through waivers unclaimed, he would become a free agent.
Cutting Bradford helps the Cardinals in the NFL’s compensatory pick equation, and adversely affects the Minnesota Vikings, who will no longer benefit from having Bradford signed away.
Mike Glennon is now the only other quarterback behind Rosen on the Cardinals’ depth chart.
