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During his introductory press conference last week, Doug Pederson had some praise for Sam Bradford. The new Eagles coach called him "top notch quarterback" and said Bradford can "fit perfectly" into his offensive system.
Pederson spoke about Bradford again while meeting with reporters down at the Senior Bowl on Wednesday. The coach said the team still hasn't made a decision on Bradford's future.
Doug Pederson says the #Eagles have not decided whether they want Sam Bradford back next season. Still deciding
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) January 27, 2016
Pederson also revealed that he finally had a chance to meet with Bradford. So what did the quarterback say?
Pederson has talked with Bradford, who would "love to be back here," per new head coach.
— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) January 27, 2016
Bradford's message to Pederson matches up with with Zach Ertz had to say earlier this week.
"He wants to be in Philadelphia," Ertz said. "Whether he’s back here or not, that’s none of my business honestly. He’s going to do what’s best for him and the Eagles are going to do what’s best for us. But at the end of the day, I think he does want to be here."
Just because Bradford says he wants to stay in Philadelphia doesn't necessarily mean it will happen. Money is obviously going to be a huge factor and it remains to be seen if the Eagles want to pay up. So far, the Eagles have been fairly lukewarm on Bradford. Sure, they've praised him at times, but they haven't come outright and said something to the effect of "Bradford is our guy."
Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman spoke about Bradford on Tuesday.
"He’s a very talented guy who obviously finished the season strong," said Roseman, via PhillyVoice. "Obviously, we hear from his teammates as we met with them that they liked him as well. That all kind of factors into it. But it’s still early in the offseason, so we have a lot of decisions to make, and that’ll be part of the process."
"Obviously, quarterback is the most important position on the field, and it would be disingenuous to say anything else," Roseman added. "But at the same time you just have to evaluate players on your team, evaluate the players that are in the draft, evaluate the free agent market, and then start making decisions."
Bradford is set to be an unrestricted free agent when the new league year begins on March 9. The team has a big decision to make before then.