BALZER'S NFL BLOG

Talking Bradford’s future, Bears coaching vacancy

Howard Balzer

January 04, 2015 at 7:37 pm.

 

Sam Bradford's future in St. Louis is up in the air. (Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports)

One of the biggest stories in the NFL over the next month, aside from coaching hires and playoff results, is the future of quarterback Sam Bradford.

The first overall pick in the 2010 draft, Bradford has played just 49 of a possible 80 games and played all 16 just twice in 2010 and 2012. Bradford suffered a torn ACL seven games into the 2013 season, then tore it again this past summer and missed the entire season.

Bradford was in the last group of big-money contracts for first-round choices and signed a six-year, $78 million contract with $50 million guaranteed. He’s been paid $65 million for those 49 games, but there are no more guarantees remaining. The final year of his deal in 2015 is for $12.985 million.

The Rams want him back next season, but at a reduced contract with probable bonuses for playing. So it was that Rams head coach Jeff Fisher, at his postseason press conference, said of Bradford, “He’s very excited about the opportunity to come back and compete for the spot here. There probably will be another quarterback in the building he’ll be competing with. What that looks like, I can’t tell you right now – from a draft standpoint or from free agency. But, he’ll be competing. You’ve got to be realistic, but I think we need to do that. Sam understands that. He doesn’t have any problem with competition. He’s been competing his whole life.”

Bradford said he understands his return is likely contingent on a contract restructuring and that there will be competition.

He said, “If I’m here, that’s what I would expect. But we haven’t had really any talks about the future and what’s going to happen so until that progresses, I really don’t know. Obviously, there’s a lot of things that can happen. I’m not really involved in that process. That’s why I’ve got an agent.”

Fisher added, “Sam and I have talked kind of off and on throughout, since the injury. I’m sure we’re going to be getting together here soon. We have some work to do, obviously, from a contractual standpoint that I’m confident we’ll sort some things out. Just looking at some numbers, Sam – since our arrival here – is 5-2-1 in the division and the other quarterbacks are 2-8. I think that’s indicative of the type of talent that he has. Most of those wins came when this team was not, in our opinion, as good as it is now. The key to his success and to his future, obviously, is being able to stay healthy.”

When asked if it was possible Bradford would be back under the current terms of his contract, Fisher said, “I’m not going to go into specifics because we have not had the time to sit down and discuss it. I appreciate the question, but I’m not going to answer that.”

However, he did then say, “I think it would make sense that both sides need to get together and work something out.”

Healthy, Bradford would be the favorite to win the starting job, considering the limited options in free agency and the Rams’ current slot of picking 10th in the first round of the draft. It also seems clear Fisher’s claim there would be competition is to make sure the team retains leverage in talks to get him to accept a salary cut.

Of course, most of the leverage is in the reality that if no agreement occurred, Bradford wouldn’t command much more than what the Rams are offering for a player coming off two town ACLs.

As far as his rehab, Bradford started running about two weeks ago and began “turning the corner” in the last three or four weeks.

While noting that this injury was a lot less painful than the torn ACL he suffered in 2013, Bradford also admitted that “it’s been tougher mentally than last year” and said early on there were moments when he wondered if it was worth it to continue playing.

He said, “It was really tough that first week after the injury. There was part of me for a couple days that I was done with football. I didn’t want to come back, I didn’t want to play; I was tired of rehabbing. I was just tired of the process. But when you step back and you are away from the game for a while, then you come back and you’re in the building and you’re around your teammates, I quickly realized that I wasn’t done and that I wanted to come back. I feel like I’ve still got a lot to prove.”

Seeking an Identity

While the Bears are searching for a coach and general manager, some players were speaking out about what the teams after the firing of GM Phil Emery and head coach Marc Trestman.

Said guard Kyle Long, “The right coach for Chicago is one that wants to instill an identity, demands a team that has an identity, and when we play, opponents should say, ‘we don’t want to play those guys.’ There’s a handful of teams in the NFL that are like that and I feel like we have the nucleus to be able to do that. And we haven’t done that, and that’s something that we need to do.”

Added tight end Martellus Bennett, “It’s a long list of things that we could go down and pick and choose. At the end of the day, we didn’t get the job done. It’s not just coaches. It’s everybody. We didn’t have a successful year as players. So the coaches didn’t have a successful year.

“I think everybody has their hand in the pot. And the gumbo doesn’t taste that great when everybody’s hand is in the pot. Then everybody is responsible for the bad taste of the gumbo.”

No Sunday Worries

John Madden never went back to coaching when he left for the broadcast booth. Jon Gruden might, but who knows? Bill Cowher also hasn’t, and Bill Polian told the Bills he wasn’t interested.

As much as competition is part of their DNA, the cut-throat world of the NFL makes it difficult for guys making buckets of money broadcasting to go back to a team and be prey to things out of their control in the quest to win.

As Polian recently said on SiriusXM NFL Radio, “In this job, I never have to yell at the officials.”

Concluded Cowher, “It does get your blood going, but no I’m in a really good place. I really enjoy my job with CBS. It’s good. I’m in a good place. You’re not going to see me on the sidelines. I enjoy it, you miss it, but not enough to get back.”

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