Eagles Trade Sam Bradford to the Vikings

With Teddy Bridgewater out of the season, the Vikings have addressed their need at quarterback by acquiring Sam Bradford from the Eagles.

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The Minnesota Vikings desperately needed a quarterback following Teddy Bridgewater's season-ending injury, so they paid a big price to pry Sam Bradford away from the Philadelphia Eagles. According to Tom Pelissero of USA Today Sports, the Vikings traded their 2017 first-round pick, and an additional pick in 2018 for the Eagles' third-string signal caller. 

While the move will reunite Bradford with running back Adrian Peterson (who he played with at the University of Oklahoma) and give the Vikings a quarterback in Bradford, who could possibly flourish in offensive coordinator Norv Turner's system, one can't help but wonder if Minnesota's desperation got the best of them. With the 2016 season just around the corner, the Vikings were relying on either 36-year-old Shaun Hill or Joel Stave, a rookie out of Wisconsin, to build off their NFC North-leading 11-5 record last season. 

If the Vikings wanted to reach the playoffs this upcoming season, they needed Bridgewater. However, with Teddy gone and Peterson in the backfield, opposing defenses were going to sell out for the run, and dare Minnesota to beat them by passing the ball. Hill nor Stave were going to make defenses respect Minnesota's air attack quite like Bridgewater. Does that mean Bradford is an improvement? Yes. 

While Bradford has never been the type of quarterback who strikes fear into the heart of his opponents, he has the potential to make defenses at least respect the passing game. Maybe that could be enough to allow AP to get going on the ground, and eventually create a balanced attack. Sure, there are still plenty of question marks surrounding the Vikings' offense, but there are fewer today than there were yesterday with the acquisition of Bradford.

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