Sam Bradford may be ‘hot,’ but Eagles are cool with that

11:41 AM ET

PHILADELPHIA – If Sam Bradford is “hot” about the Philadelphia Eagles move up in the draft for a quarterback, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Wednesday night, that is completely understandable.

Bradford just signed a two-year contract with the Eagles that pays him $35 million. That’s No. 1 quarterback money.

If the Eagles draft Carson Wentz with the No. 2 pick next week, they will be identifying Wentz as their No. 1 quarterback. Maybe not this month or this season, but he will be the quarterback they are building their team around.

But here’s the thing. Schefter’s source said Bradford was motivated by the trade: “He’s mad and wants to show everyone who’s best.”

Will the Eagles’ move up the draft board light a fire under Sam Bradford or undermine his confidence? Jim Rogash/Getty Images

If that’s the case then the Eagles are even smarter than they looked by making this trade. The only way Bradford can show everyone he’s better than Wentz is by playing like the No. 1 overall draft choice that he is. And if Bradford does that in 2016, Doug Pederson’s first season as head coach will be better than anticipated.

This is a fairly complicated knot to untie. Let’s start with Bradford. He said Tuesday, a day before the trade, that he didn’t pay much attention to rumors and reports about things he couldn’t control. When asked what he would like to see the Eagles do in this year’s draft, Bradford said he wanted anyone “who can help us win games.”

That is how franchise quarterbacks think. And the franchise’s responsibility is to do everything they can to surround that quarterback with enough talent to succeed. That is not a favor to the quarterback. It is the best way for the franchise to have success, which is the whole point.

Howie Roseman, …

continue reading in source espn.go.com