By: Brandon Apter, contributor
Back in early March, the Eagles signed quarterback Sam Bradford to a two-year deal worth $36 million, $26 of which is guaranteed. At that point, it seemed like they were comfortable with him at the helm for now until they found a franchise guy in the coming years. It didn't take the Eagles long to find what they believe to be that franchise quarterback, trading a variety of picks to draft Carson Wentz second overall in last week's draft.
Since the trade, Bradford has disappeared from voluntary workouts and has reportedly requested a trade on numerous occasions, with his agent claiming there is no real competition at quarterback. Both Howie Roseman and Doug Pederson have expressed their intentions for Bradford to be an Eagle, but whether that happens remains to be seen. The whole situation has caused quite a media storm for the team, so TMZ caught up with a former Eagle who was part of a media frenzy of his own during his time in Philadelphia, Terrell Owens.
Owens spoke commented on the Bradford situation, saying despite the addition of Carson Wentz, the starting QB job is Sam's to lose. He went on to say that him requesting a trade is the act of a coward.
"It's Sam Bradford's job to lose," Owens said.
But when we started talking about Bradford's trade demand — T.O. busted out the real talk.
"I think it was not a great move for Sam to want to request a trade being that they were getting a #1 pick."
"If it were me … that's kind of a sign of a coward, to be honest."
Owens said NFL players need to be confident in themselves — "it shouldn't matter who they're drafting or who's coming in." [TMZ.com]
T.O. has never been afraid to speak his mind, once calling the Eagles classless, feuding with Donovan McNabb and another time requesting a bigger contract to "feed his family" despite earning $7.5 million in 2004.
Although Bradford won't be a guy we see doing pushups in his driveway like Owens did during his holdout with the Eagles, his reported request for a trade doesn't make sense for a someone didn't necessarily cement himself as a franchise quarterback. With the Eagles pick of Wentz, Bradford should embrace the competition and show that he is the guy, rather than backing down and refusing to face the situation.