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Did the St. Louis Rams swindle the Philadelphia Eagles?

By Dan Salem

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Did the St. Louis Rams swindle the Philadelphia Eagles or vice versa? When teams trade quarterbacks there are no winners. Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL TD Sports Debate. Two brothers from New York yell, scream and debate the NFL and sports.

DAN:

Brother, you now call Philadelphia home, so perhaps you can shed some light on the outrage pouring from the always pissed off Eagles’ fan base. Philadelphia and St. Louis swapped quarterbacks and there is one clear winner in my opinion.

First off, the notion of swapping quarterbacks is laughable. Why would any team ever do this? If you don’t like your quarterback, it makes sense to trade him. Yet in the case of a quarterback swap, neither team likes their quarterback. Trading unwelcome assets seems silly. This is all in principle.

Getting back to the Eagles and Rams, its pretty clear to me why both clubs made this move. St. Louis saves money, pockets draft picks, and gets a decent starting quarterback from Philly. That’s right, I do consider Nick Foles a starting quarterback and a decent one at that. He has yet to play great, has shown moments of excellence, but is ultimately a step above nearly every backup in the league. He remains a good starting quarterback.

Aug 16, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams quarterback

Sam Bradford

(8) at the line of scrimmage against the Green Bay Packers during the first half at Edward Jones Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

You know who is better, Sam Bradford. Bradford has been great at times, has shown many moments of excellence, and is in the upper tier of quarterbacks when healthy. Yes I snuck in a nice caveat there at the end. But none the less, assuming a full recovery from injury, Sam Bradford will be excellence once again.

The Eagles are clear winners here and I don’t understand the uproar. Bradford will be infinitely better in Chip Kelly’s offense than he was with St. Louis. The Eagles will be more dynamic with him under center. His completion percentage has been below average, but the touchdown to interception ratio is excellent. In 2013, his last full season as a starter, he through 14 touchdowns to only four interceptions, with a 90.9 rating on the year.

I’m a Sam Bradford fan, but the numbers speak for themselves. Eagles fans should count themselves lucky. They just upgraded at the most important position in the game. Would you rather have an unproven rookie QB or a proven talent? How about a player with Pro Bowl potential and very little ceiling? Yeah, you have him.

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TODD:

What a fascinating move this was. Although I am nothing approaching an Eagles fan, I do live in Philadelphia and believe I actually share the feelings of the city of brotherly love. The reason this trade has been ridiculed is because Chip Kelly and the Eagles got hustled here!

When I first heard of this trade without the definitive particulars, I assumed draft-pick compensation was moving to Philly. To me, the two quarterbacks are pretty comparable. I don’t particularly like Nick Foles, but I agree that he can be a lower-end starter in this league. However, I disagree with you in that I feel the exact same way about Sam Bradford.

Sep 28, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles (9) hands off to Eagles running back

LeSean McCoy

(25) during the fourth quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi

Bradford doesn’t throw the ball down field, like at all. He ranks dead last in yards per attempt among all active quarterbacks who qualify. In case you thought this may be statistical noise and he is just really efficient down there, he is also dead last in yards per completion.

To make matters worse, as you hinted at but didn’t focus on, the guy also can’t stay healthy. He missed all of last season, over half of the entire season prior and a large chunk of 2011 to boot.

This is not to say Bradford can’t play in this league, but he hardly seems like anything better than a comparable player to Nick Foles. Which brings me to the rest of this deal.

If St. Louis is shedding Bradford and his monstrous contract in exchange for a relatively equal player who is dirt cheap by comparison, how are they also getting picks back?? Philadelphia essentially lost assets for the ability to pay their mediocre quarterback more money.

Next: Who are the biggest draft busts in NFL history?

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