The NFL's free agency bonanza that was set to begin Tuesday has turned into a game of "Who can make the biggest trade," and the Eagles and Rams just might be the winners.
The teams have swapped quarterbacks, CBS Sports NFL Inside Jason LaCanfora has reported, meaning Sam Bradford is now headed for Philadelphia and Nick Foles is on his way to St. Louis.
The Eagles will also get a 2015 fifth round pick in the deal. Besides Foles, the Rams will get two draft picks: A fourth-round pick in 2015 and a second-round pick in 2016.
Full terms: Eagles acquire Sam Bradford and 5th round draft pick in 15 for Nick Foles, 4th round pick in 15 and 2nd round pick in 2016.
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) March 10, 2015
So the Rams will get a second-round pick in 2016.
The Eagles could also get an extra pick in 2016 if Bradford plays. According to ESPN.com, the Eagles will get a third-round pick if Bradford does not play at all and a fourth-round pick if he starts less than 50 percent of plays.
The swap means Foles won't be Chip Kelly's quarterback for the next 1,000 years and it also means Jeff Fisher is going to have to find someone else to count on. At the combine in February, Fisher said his team would be "counting on" Bradford for the 2015 season.
So, who got the better end of this deal? Let's take a look.
Either Chip Kelly has gone completely bonkers or he's the smartest coach in the NFL.
Over the past seven days, Kelly has traded away his top running back from 2014 (LeSean McCoy), let his top receiver walk in free agency (Jeremy Maclin) and now traded away his starting quarterback.
The Foles trade is probably the one move out of these three that actually makes the most sense.
On the surface, it doesn't seem like Bradford is a good fit for Kelly's system, but we know he's capable of running a fast pace, no-huddle because he did it in 2008 at Oklahoma -- and he was good at it.
Oklahoma basically did what Chip Kelly does now: put smaller, quicker players on the field in an effort to exploit mismatches.
Here's how Bradford recently described his 2008 Oklahoma offense.
"We went no-huddle, fast break. We had 11 personnel, 10 personnel, smaller, faster and spread it out to start throwing the ball a lot more," Bradford said in 2013. "I remember that first spring, I really wasn't sure I was going to like it because I had never run the no-huddle before. It seemed like everything happened too fast but the more we did it, the more comfortable I got with it. It turned out it was probably the best move we made because we were really good at it."
That should be music to your ears if you're an Eagles fan. Another plus is that Bradford played with DeMarco Murray at Oklahoma and there's always an outside shot that he could talk his former college teammate into joining him in Philadelphia.
Another plus? Kelly likes a quarterback who makes quick decisions, doesn't throw interceptions and doesn't take sacks, and that's exactly what Bradford was doing before he was injured in 2013.
Bradford was on pace to throw 32 touchdown passes and only nine interceptions before he was lost for the season.
If Bradford needs any help adjusting to Kelly's offense, that's where Pat Shurmur comes in. The Eagles offensive coordinator was the Rams OC during Bradford's rookie year in 2010, when Bradford had a career year and was named the offensive rookie of the year. Shurmur knows what Bradford's capabilities are and can help him adjust to Kelly's offense.
The downside with Bradford is that he hasn't played in a regular season game since October 2013 thanks to an ACL tear he suffered during the 2014 preseason. The Eagles will pay him a $12.985 million base salary this year. On the other hand, there's no long term commitment because Bradford's contract expires after 2015.
Of course, let's not forget that this is Chip Kelly we're talking about, and adding Bradford could just be part of Kelly's ultimate plan to land Marcus Mariota. Kelly could end up using Bradford as bait to move up in this year's NFL Draft.
Grade: B+
St. Louis Rams
The question in St. Louis after Tuesday's trade is this: Is Nick Foles really a step up from Austin Davis or Shaun Hill? Chip Kelly's offense is often described as quarterback-proof and that's because pretty much any quarterback can put up big numbers while running it.
Take Mark Sanchez. Two of the three biggest games in his career came last season when he became the starter after Foles injured his collarbone midway through the 2014 season.
The big problem for the Rams is that they don't know which Foles they'll be getting: the Foles who lit it up during the 2013 season or the Foles who stumbled his way through the 2014 season.
The good news for St. Louis is that even if Foles does struggle, the team is not tied to him at all. Foles will make $1.342 million in 2015 and then become a free agent, so there's no really risk for St. Louis. If Foles pans out, the Rams can re-sign him, if Foles struggles, then they can let him walk after 2015.
Grade: C+
