Rick Spielman, the general manager of the Minnesota Vikings, revealed that he had to pay a huge price just to secure Sam Bradford from the Philadelphia Eagles. According to the executive, due to Teddy Bridgewater's injury, he had no other choice but to trade for Bradford.
As reported by CBS Sports, the Vikings were able to solve their missing quarterback problem during the weekend by entering in a trade deal with the Eagles. In exchange for Bradford, the Vikings had to give up a 2017 first-round draft pick as well as a 2018 fourth-round draft pick.
From the perspective of a fan, the deal looks very expensive, especially on the side of the Vikings. For one, losing a first-round pick in next year's draft will cause the Minnesota organization to miss out on an opportunity to get top playing who's capable of elevating the team's game.
According to Spielman, he had no other choice but to yield to Eagles' price for Bradford. That's because once the other teams heard about what happened to Bridgewater, they immediately took advantage of Vikings' desperate situation.
"I made a bunch of calls," Spielman said according to NFL.com. "I am not gonna mention teams. But there was blood in the water, and teams knew. The price was too high. I didn't want to mortgage our future."
"Some teams asked for a first-round pick and a core young player," he continued. "I can understand the pick. But we worked too hard over the past three years to put all that time and energy into drafting and developing a solid core of this team. I was taken aback who they were asking for. Players who'd been in the Pro Bowl."
Aside from Bradford, another athlete that Spielman could have gone for was Mark Sanchez. But after seeing the veteran athlete loose his starting quarterback position in the Denver Broncos, the GM decided to look somewhere else.
Mike Glennon of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could have been a nice addition to the Vikings lineup but he was just way too expensive. But, despite the trade values that Spielman had to go through, getting Bradford doesn't mean that the Vikings settled. For the GM, Bradford is a reliable quarterback who has the experience and skills to lead the team.
"I watched every game Sam played last year, and the last three games, I thought he was playing as well as anyone I saw last year," he said.
