Bleeding Green Nation
After 10 years, the Sam Bradford/Nick Foles trade was massive for the Rams and Eagles — but not because of those players.
Given all the success that the Eagles have experienced over the past several seasons, it’s easy to forget the tough times. One of the hallmarks of the current era is stability at quarterback, with Jalen Hurts manning the position for the past four seasons as a full-time starter. But you don’t have to go back very far to find a time when that stability was not the standard, and this season marks ten years since a pivotal trade that would drastically change the quarterback room of two NFL franchises.
I’m speaking of course of the now-infamous Sam Bradford/Nick Foles trade, which saw the St. Louis Rams send Sam Bradford to the Eagles in exchange for Nick Foles and a pair of picks including a second-rounder. This was a headline-grabbing trade at the time that wound up completely upending the quarterback position of two NFL teams… but not in the way anyone would’ve expected at the time.
Let’s take a look back at this storied trade and determine once and for all who came out ahead.
Sam Bradford would go on to play just a single season for the Eagles, starting 14 games and putting together a 7-7 record. Bradford’s play was up-and-down, managing 3,725 yards (65% completion), 19 TDs, and 14 INTs with a solid 7.0 YPA. Bradford missed two games in Weeks 11-12 due to injury, with the Eagles losing both. Bradford’s best value to Philadelphia would come the next year, as he signed a two-year extension before being traded to the Minnesota Vikings for a 2017 first-round pick (17) and 2018 fourth-round pick (130).
In total, the Eagles acquired three picks from the Sam Bradford trades: a 2015 fifth-rounder (145), a 2017 first-rounder (17), and a 2018 fourth-rounder (130). The 2015 pick was packaged as a part of a trade-up with the Miami Dolphins which led to the selection of defensive back Eric Rowe. Philadelphia would go on to select a pair of edge rushers with the two picks they acquired a year later after trading Bradford: Derek Barnett with pick 17 in the 2017 NFL Draft, and Josh Sweat with pick 130 in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Nick Foles wound up starting 11 games for the Rams in 2015, his only season with the team. He passed for 2,052 yards (56.4% completion) at 6.1 YPA, with 7 TDs and 10 INTs. Foles was a below-average starter in St. Louis and was supplanted by Case Keenum to close out the...
