The Philadelphia Eagles had Sam Bradford on the mind for much longer than anyone realized.
Asked Wednesday if he was surprised about the swap that sent Nick Foles to the Rams in exchange for his services, the quarterback broke a little news.
"This had been in the works for a while," Bradford said. "So it didn't catch me totally by surprise when it happened yesterday."
Pressed further, Bradford acknowledged that he "knew this was a possibility probably three, four weeks ago," adding: "I think that (coach) Chip (Kelly) and the Eagles wanted me here, and I'm excited to be here."
In essence, Rams officials sold us a heaping bill of goods at last month's NFL Scouting Combine when coach Jeff Fisher insisted he was "counting on" Bradford and "betting on him" to rebound from back-to-back season-ending knee injuries. General manager Les Snead promised that St. Louis had zero desire to "delete" Bradford from the roster, before shipping him out of town.
To their credit, both Fisher and Snead obviously discussed the deal with Bradford ahead of time.
The trade reunites Bradford with offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, who served as play-caller during Bradford's rookie year with the Rams in 2010. The passer cited his "excellent relationship" with Shurmur before gushing over the chance to run Kelly's up-tempo attack.
"I think any quarterback in this league would love to play for Chip in his offense," Bradford said. "It's extremely quarterback-friendly. The tape that I've watched, it just looks like it's a lot of fun to play in. I think it's similar to what I did in college at Oklahoma, so I'm extremely excited to be here and ready to get rolling."
Also from Bradford:
- The quarterback said he will "absolutely" attempt to recruit former college teammate DeMarco Murray to the Eagles. Chances are dimming on that deal, though, after Philly signed former Chargers runner Ryan Mathews to a three-year, $12 million deal.
- Coming off back-to-back season-ending knee injuries, Bradford confirmed he would be ready to roll for training camp. He started his throwing program a few weeks ago, and doesn't expect the knee to hold him back.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast breaks down every trade and free-agent signing and discusses the impact of Darrelle Revis' return to the Jets. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW.
