Bradford, Eagles talk contract, but no progress made

Sam Bradford continues to make strides on the field and the Philadelphia Eagles would like to make progress in keeping him in town past this season.

NFL Media's Albert Breer reports the Eagles have had preliminary contract talks with Bradford. The sides talked a few times, but no real progress was made, per sources on both sides of the discussion.

It's not a surprise that an extension discussion would garner little or no traction.

With Bradford coming off a second ACL injury, the Eagles would likely want an incentive-laden deal they could get out from if the quarterback doesn't perform or gets injured again. The Eagles also would have franchise-tag leverage next year if Bradford goes wild in his first season with Philly.

Due $12.985 million in 2015, Bradford's camp has little reason to capitulate to a team-friendly deal -- just as he had no reason to re-do his deal with the St. Louis Rams prior to the trade. The quarterback enters the final year of a rookie deal signed before the wage scale was imposed, meaning he'll see every penny of his $78 million deal from 2010.

Also adding to Bradford's leverage is Chip Kelly's QB-friendly system.

While the quarterback's knee isn't 100 percent, he's still in the lead for the starting job. If he is healthy by Week 1 and plays an entire season under Kelly -- a big if at this point -- he could put up massive numbers that would have teams fawning over him in a free agent market dearth with decent signal-callers.

If Kelly can make Nick Foles and Mark Sanchez look good for stretches, think about what he can do with a more talented and accurate Bradford.

Given the dichotomy between the likely stances of the two sides in negotiations, the chances are high that Bradford plays out the final year of his massive rookie deal.

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