Doug Pederson: Sam Bradford Missing Valuable Time in Offense

The 2016 NFL draft has come and gone and Sam Bradford is still on the Eagles' roster.

And he's still the starting quarterback.

For now.

Bradford, who signed a two-year, $35 million deal this offseason, wasn't happy when the Eagles decided to trade up to No. 2 to take Carson Wentz. He requested a trade out of town and immediately stopped showing up for the team's offseason program.

That's problematic because head coach Doug Pederson is in the middle of installing his new offensive scheme and the starting quarterback isn't around to learn it.

"Anybody that's not in any of the 32 offseason programs is losing valuable time at that club," Pederson admitted on Saturday night, soon after the draft ended. "Anybody that's not in the offseason program, yes, would lose the time."

Pederson didn't waste time naming Bradford his starting quarterback this offseason after Chase Daniel signed a high-priced deal and still says Bradford is the starter. But this time away isn't helping.  

At what point is Bradford in danger of losing his role as starter?

"I think it depends on when he does come back and how fast we can catch him up and put him in that situation and see where he's at, at that time," Pederson said. "Again, nobody makes the team in April. We're not making any roster adjustments and letting people go. It's all about evaluation and he's in that evaluation process. But as I've said in the past, he was one, Chase (Daniel) is two and we're moving on from there."

Pederson on Thursday said he hasn't spoken to Bradford recently and on Saturday said that hasn't yet changed.

A few possible landing spots for Bradford in any kind of trade were likely scratched off the list over the last few days, when teams like the Broncos and Jets drafted quarterbacks.

"In regards to Sam, obviously, he's still on the roster," Pederson said. "We mentioned before he's not going anywhere, he's our guy. And I look forward to the day he comes back. It's unfortunate the situation, but it's also a voluntary process, as you know. You can't do much about that. The minute he comes back, we catch him up and we just keep on going forward."

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