Sam Bradford gets a lot of money not to be the starting QB of the Cardinals

Sam Bradford, at his best, plays good football. It is also, even at worst, excellent for making money.

Former No. 1 overall winner has spent more than $ 114 million on the Rams, Eagles and Vikings from 2010 to 2017. This calculation equals $ 1.1 million per pass, $ 1.425 million. per start and $ 3.35 million per win as a starter.

And now, after rookie Josh Rosen has been named Cardinals starting quarterback, Bradford will be the highest paid replacement in the league.

Bradford signed a one-year contract worth $ 20 million (with a $ 20 team option in 2019) in March to replace Carson Palmer. It was a … well, let's say a "daring" chord to start with. The veteran had just finished his best two seasons as a professional after a layover in Minnesota, but he also missed 14 games of the 2017 season because of a knee injury, as the Vikings' coach , Mike Zimmer, would later qualify as "degenerative".

Less than two months later, Arizona fished Rosen, leaving Bradford as a $ 20-million bridge between the past and present of the team. And now, after three ineffective starts and a 0-3 record, it turns out the bridge was shorter – and maybe a bit cheaper – than the cardinals would have thought.

Cardinals Can Save More Than $ 4 Million With Bradford Benches

Bradford's $ 20 million contract for 2018 has some caveats. $ 15 million of this transaction is guaranteed; the rest is tied to bonuses. As long as Bradford is an active member of the team, he will earn about $ 312,500 per game, the biggest weekly bonus in the league's lineup.

But to avoid this six-figure payment, Arizona would have to demote it to its quarterback position. The team will retain him on the 53-man roster, but will leave him out of the active 46-man roster set on the day of the match. This would keep him safe in the event of a disaster but would prevent him from returning immediately if Rosen struggled or suffered an injury.

It is a gesture for which the club has isolated itself. The Cardinals have one of the third quarterbacks in the league in Mike Glennon. Glennon started 22 games in his six-year career, but was most recently scoring a 1-to-3 record with the Bears before giving way to rookie forward Mitchell Trubisky. Although he does not really inspire confidence in himself, he is a useful quarterback whose speech is not much lower than that of two touchdowns, four interceptions and 5.0 yards per pass by Bradford during of his first three games with the team.

First-year head coach Steve Wilks did not even intend to tell the two-time veterans before the eve of their 4th week game against the Seahawks:

And he ended up elevating Glennon to role # 2:

Will the Cardinals go from Bradford?

The Cardinals could also release Bradford directly, which would allow him to join another team as a valuable replacement or as a potential starter for a franchise like the 49ers, who just lost Jimmy Garoppolo from a torn ACL . It would also take him out of the Arizona locker room, where Rosen venerates his leadership and advice. The question is whether cardinals value these intangible assets more than the savings they can realize by reducing or disabling them.

Another option would be to wait to see if another quarter injury, such as Garoppolo's, could be a potential market for Bradford – although his high salary cap and his worst career performance this fall make it difficult to get a chance for him. A significant return for the veteran smuggler.

Whatever the case may be, Bradford will earn nearly $ 16 million in 2018, another eight-figure salary that he can add to a fulfilled career. With Rosen installed as a starter on the team and Glennon as a substitute, the Cardinals would have had to pay an additional $ 312,500 per game to keep it as an insurance policy.

Letting a respected veteran languish on the inactive list for most of the season is the kind of decision that would ruin the team's reputation among the players. This would also make the team vulnerable in case Rosen struggles or hurts himself during a match. But that saves them $ 4 million, and the cardinals decided it was worth more.