ESPN: Sam Bradford to Sign With Arizona Cardinals
Sean Borman
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According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, former Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford will sign with the Arizona Cardinals.
Sam Bradford intends to sign with Arizona, source tells ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 13, 2018
Schefter reported Bradford and the Cardinals agreed to a one-year deal for $20 million, including $15 million guaranteed. The contract includes a second-year option for another $20 million.
Sam Bradford to Arizona: 1-year for $20M, including $15M guaranteed; 1-year option for $20M, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 13, 2018
Bradford was acquired by the Vikings via a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles just 15 days before the 2016 season. The move followed a major knee injury suffered by Teddy Bridgewater in practice. Bradford was under contract for 2-years at $35 million.
2016
After sitting the first week Bradford started the next 15 games. He went 395 of 552 (71.6%) for 3,877 yards with 20 touchdowns and five interceptions. Despite the impressive box-score stats and historically high completion percentage, Bradford led the team to a 7-8 record as a starter and the Vikings missed the playoffs following a 5-0 start to the season.
2017
In what was perhaps his finest regular season performance, Bradford went 27 of 32 for 346 yards and three touchdowns in a Week 1 win over New Orleans. Unfortunately for Bradford, it was the last time he saw the field healthy. A “degenerative” knee issue kept him off the field for all but one half the rest of the year. He attempted to start in Chicago but it was clear that Bradford was not comfortable on the leg. Despite being activated off the PUP list for the playoffs, Bradford did not play after Week 5 at Chicago.
Recently from VT:
- Shortly after the Vikings hired him in February, offensive coordinator John DeFilippo talked about Bradford and working with him in the past:
“I had a great relationship with Sam. Sam is a fantastic person and a fantastic player. Sam is probably the purest passer that I’ve ever coached, and I’ve been fortunate enough to coach some really good quarterbacks. And he’s probably the most accurate pure passer I’ve ever coached. Obviously he brings a ton of physical attributes to the table. He can drive the football to the perimeter better than most people think. Sam’s a tremendous quarterback.”
- At the NFL Combine Mike Zimmer was asked about his confidence in Sam Bradford’s health. He replied:
“It’s really the $64,000-question will all three of these guys. Right? I mean, can Sam stay healthy? Is Teddy what he was? Is Case the guy that he was last year or that he was two years ago? With Sam… I think he’ll stay healthy, but, who knows. I have a crystal ball but I didn’t bring it with me.”