Will Eagles invest their future with Sam Bradford? Photo by Andy Lewis / contrastphotography.com

By DAVE SPADARO

As the Eagles prepared for their game against the Washington Redskins and kept an eye on the torrid (OK, tepid) playoff race in the NFC East, a larger question loomed that impacts not only the remainder of this season but many years to come.

Who is the quarterback here?

It’s a question without an answer at the moment. Sam Bradford has the job and has, by all accounts, shown good progress from Day 1 of this season through the early days of December. He compiled a 5-2 record in the games he started AND finished leading into the Buffalo game, his passing numbers showed promising growth and his ball security was strong.

Bradford, who played in only seven games combined in the 2013 and 2014 seasons because of consecutive knee injuries, was stronger in and out of the pocket, more mobile than expected and showed great toughness taking some monster hits during the seasons. The two games he missed happened after suffering a concussion and left shoulder injury in the third quarter of the loss to Miami.

Bradford’s final month of the season is important for a bunch of reasons. The Eagles are in the playoff race, obviously, and they need Bradford to continue to grow and get an offense that has been inconsistent all season on track for the stretch run. Beyond that, there is the matter of the “franchise” quarterback the team has searched for since the vintage days of Donovan McNabb.

The Eagles traded for Bradford last March, dealing quarterback Nick Foles and a 2016 second-round draft pick for Bradford and a swap of draft picks in 2015. After a slow start, Bradford elevated his game as the rust from the inactivity wore off. He threw for 270 yards and 3 touchdowns in a loss at Washington, and came back with 333 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns (along with two interceptions) in a win over New Orleans.

Bradford threw three interceptions in a win over the Giants and then tossed another interceptions in a loss at Carolina, but followed that with a game-winning overtime touchdown pass at Dallas, the first of three straight games without a giveaway heading into the Buffalo contest.
Ups. Downs. Growth. A step back. It’s been a process for Bradford, who has been pleased with his progress.

“I’m happy, yeah,” he said. “Being out there, helping this team win, that’s what it’s all about. I feel a lot more comfortable than I did at the beginning of the season, obviously, and it’s just a matter of growing in the system and knowing my teammates better and just getting my timing back. I’ve seen and felt a lot of improvement.”

Has it been enough, in the big picture, to think that Bradford could become a “franchise” quarterback? He’s playing on a one-year contract, so Bradford is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after this season. The Eagles have Mark Sanchez under contract through the 2016 season, but he’s considered a backup option only. Thad Lewis? An NFL journeyman.

Is the draft an option? Sure, but there aren’t any sure-thing prospects, at least at this point in the evaluation. Would the Eagles potentially be interested in a trade for a high-profile NFL veteran like Colin Kapernick from San Francisco? Who knows? What happens if Washington cuts free Robert Griffin III? Would the Eagles make a play there?

So many questions and no answers.

While the focus is on the stretch run, and understandably so, the Eagles also know that the big picture contains a conversation, and an answer, about the long-term picture at quarterback.

The Eagles haven’t won a playoff game since 2008 when, not so coincidentally, McNabb was the starting quarterback. Since then, it’s been Kevin Kolb, Michael Vick, Nick Foles, Mark Sanchez, Sam Bradford – and zero playoff victories.