The latest news to come out of the Philadelphia Eagles’ camp regarding Sam Bradford is that Bradford has decided to ride out his current contract that expires at the end of the year. Rather than signing an extension now, Bradford is rolling the dice on his performance in 2015 in the hopes of scoring a big payday next offseason. That gamble was not only the expectation out of Bradford this year, but it’s also the smartest move he could make.

From Bradford’s side, he’s showing a remarkable level of self-awareness. Bradford is not a quarterback in high demand. Bradford is an injury-prone, No. 1 overall bust who hasn’t done much to warrant any kind of realistic praise. So for him to decide to wait for a new contract shows that Bradford knows he’s got nothing to lose. If he flames out in Philadelphia, his reputation isn’t going to be that much more tarnished. Certainly it won’t be any better, but the downside is pretty minimal for him.

But say that Bradford lights it up and puts forth a solid season. Not only will he have redeemed his image in the league, he’ll be able to score a mega-deal befitting a properly-producing quarterback. Franchise tags for quarterbacks would be in the ballpark of $20 million. That’s a massive score for Bradford, well worth the risk he’s taking.

The beauty of this too is that holding off until next year plays out spectacularly for the Eagles as well. If Bradford stinks, he’s out the door without a second thought or second dollar spent. It would be a nice, clean divorce. Also, the Eagles are going to be able to properly pay Bradford in a manner that reflects his performance. If he’s great, his contract is pricey.  If he’s average, the contract will be average. Should he need it, Bradford really loses any kind of leverage to negotiate if his performance is anything less than stellar.  If he’s average, he will have to expect that any offers in free agency would reflect that. An average performance would actually hurt Bradford more since Chip Kelly’s offense is so quarterback-friendly.

The long and short of it is that signing Bradford now is an unnecessary gamble for both sides, and waiting until next year is the best thing the Eagles and Bradford can do. Bradford gets his shot at a huge deal, and the Eagles get to find out what he’s got for basically zero added risk. It’s a good position to be in, especially with an unknown like Bradford to figure out. It’ll make for a very interesting offseason next year however it plays out.

Doug Green is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com covering the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL.  Follow him on Twitter @DGreenNFL.