PHILADELPHIA -- Sometimes you add two and two and get 10. This may be a case of that, but it's interesting nonetheless.
The Philadelphia Eagles may or may not be looking for a quarterback. The St. Louis Rams may be looking to move on from their franchise quarterback, Sam Bradford. Not only is Bradford coming off his second torn anterior cruciate ligament, he would count about $12 million against the Rams' salary cap for 2015.
If the Rams release Bradford, it could indirectly help the Eagles. Jason Cole of Bleacher Report has reported that some teams at the top of the draft would prefer Bradford to the risk of taking a quarterback with a high pick. If so, that could make the team that gets Bradford more likely to be open to trading their pick.
That would give the Eagles an opening to trade up and draft Oregon's Marcus Mariota.
But here's where two plus two equals 10. When Bradford was drafted with the No. 1 pick in 2010, the Rams' offensive coordinator was Pat Shurmur. Bradford went 8-8 as a starter that season, throwing 18 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. The next year, Shurmur left to become head coach of the Cleveland Browns and Bradford tore his first ACL.
It's fair to wonder if Bradford is mobile enough to run Chip Kelly's offense. He wasn't exactly Colin Kaepernick before the knee injuries. But Kelly has adjusted his offense to cater to Nick Foles for the past two seasons.
Would Bradford be appreciably better than Foles? That depends which Foles you're getting. In 2013, Foles' 27 touchdowns and two interceptions made for a better performance than Bradford has managed during his career. In his last season-and-a-half, before the second ACL tear, Bradford threw 35 touchdown passes and 17 interceptions. His record as a starter was 10-12-1.
In his season-and-a-half playing for Kelly, Foles threw 40 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. His record as a starter was 14-4. Foles, 26, is one year younger than Bradford. Both quarterbacks have missed considerable time due to injuries.
Bradford's connection to Shurmur, who is now the Eagles' O-coordinator, is one reason that two and two could add up to more than four here. The other reason is Kelly's apparent taste for working with differently skilled quarterbacks. He picked Michael Vick as his starter during the 2013 training camp. Foles replaced Vick due to injury. Last offseason, the Eagles signed Mark Sanchez after he was released by the New York Jets.