Tuesday's trade-happy hurricane continues to rage through league circles: This time it involves a pair of starting quarterbacks.
The Eagles announced Tuesday that they have agreed to trade quarterback Nick Foles, a fourth-round draft pick in 2015 and a second-round pick in 2016 to the St. Louis Rams in exchange for quarterback Sam Bradford and the Rams' fifth-round pick in 2015.
In addition, NFL Media's Albert Breer reports the Eagles will receive a fourth-round pick in 2016 if Bradford doesn't start eight games; they will get a third-rounder if he is re-injured.
It's a stunning swap that bookends Bradford's up-and-down career in St. Louis while ending the Foles experiment in Philly after just 24 starts.
The Rams were fiery in their support of Bradford at the combine, with coach Jeff Fisher telling reporters that St. Louis was "counting on him" and "betting on him" to rebound from back-to-back season-ending knee injuries. General manager Les Snead emphasized the front office had no desire to "delete" Bradford from the roster, but Chip Kelly changed their minds.
It's an especially bold move by the Eagles coach, who will now pivot his star-stripped offense around a signal-caller who has yet to live up to his lofty draft pedigree. Injuries have limited Bradford to just seven starts over the past two seasons. Deeper questions, though, hover around the quarterback's larger body of work, with Bradford failing to grow into anything resembling a top passer over the past five seasons.
Kelly's "quarterback-proof" offense squeezed out a statistically stellar campaign from Foles in 2013, but he wasn't the same quarterback last season. With a fresh start in St. Louis, though, Foles has the chance to help a team that -- at times last season -- seemed to possess everything but a reliable passer.
Nobody can blame the Rams for moving on. Kelly, though, is under pressure in Philly. After watching running back LeSean McCoy, Foles, and wideouts DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin exit stage left, whoever starts under center in Week 1 will be working with a whole new cast of faces.
Quarterback-for-quarterback trades are extremely rare in today's game. Minutes into the new league year, we've already been gifted with a fascinating swap to track for years to come.
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