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Philadelphia Eagles’ backup quarterback Mark Sanchez thinks he’s in the mix to be the starting quarterback in 2015. After all, Chip Kelly said so. That assertion is apparently what convinced Sanchez to re-sign with the team in the offseason on a two-year deal. But despite what Kelly says or what Sanchez thinks, he is destined to be the backup to Sam Bradford in 2015, and the facts all line up.
For starters, Sanchez isn’t here only because of a promise of competition. He re-signed with the Eagles because Kelly’s offense can somewhat mask his deficiencies. Put Sanchez in a typical pro-style NFL offense and you’re going to get the same results you saw out of him in New York — poor decision making, turnovers and lack of playmaking talent. Kelly’s innovative offense simplifies everything down to where Sanchez doesn’t need to do all that much. And even then, Sanchez was functional at best; anywhere else he’d be a third-string option.
The contract he signed to return even signals as much. His two-year, $9 million deal is a bit pricey for a backup, but the Eagles overpaid for the certainty of knowing what Sanchez could do, not for his talent. And when you look at the escalators in his deal, all of them are based around the concept of “if” he’s the starter, not “when.”
Bradford’s situation has no “ifs.” The Eagles committed to paying Bradford the eight-figure salary due on his rookie contract from St. Louis. The Eagles traded away Nick Foles and a 2016 second-round pick to acquire him. Those are valuable, tangible assets the Eagles gave up to get him. Those things show me a definite commitment to Bradford as a starter; all Sanchez got from the team was money and all those “ifs.” You don’t give up all those assets for a starter, then tell the other one you really gave nothing up for that he’s on equal footing with the starter.
The only real variable that might give Sanchez some hope is Bradford’s knee, but the Eagles wouldn’t have given up what they did for him if his knee was going to be a concern. The investment is in Bradford for 2015 and unless he blows his leg out again, he’s got the starting job in Philadelphia on lockdown. Meanwhile, Sanchez is looking at clipboard duty until and if Bradford goes down. That’s the way it’ll be in 2015.
Doug Green is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com covering the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL. Follow him on Twitter @DGreenNFL.
