Pederson says Bradford wants to return; wants Peters back

MOBILE, Ala. – Doug Pederson said that he met with Sam Bradford earlier this week and that the quarterback told him he wants to return to the Eagles.

"Yeah, he'd love to be back and that's a thing we got to continue to look at," Pederson said Wednesday from the Senior Bowl. "He would definitely fit the type of offensive structure that I'll bring."

Even if there is mutual interest, the two sides are still a ways off from an agreement. Bradford is set to become a free agent on March 9. The Eagles have until then to exclusively work out a contract with the 28-year old. They could also use their one-year franchise tag on him, or at least to buy time.

Pederson echoed comments vice president of football operations Howie Roseman made on Tuesday and said that the Eagles had yet to make a final decision on Bradford.

"Sam and I had a great conversation a couple of days ago and I look forward to working with him," Pederson said. "It's just something as we continue to evaluate. We'll pull that trigger one way or the other when the time comes."

There have been various murmurs that Bradford preferred not to return to the Eagles because of his distaste for Philadelphia. He hasn't spoken publicly since the final game of the season on Jan. 2.

Pederson said he also has met with other core players such as tight end Brent Celek and safety Malcolm Jenkins. He has yet to talk to Jason Peters, but he said he wants the 34-year-old left tackle back next season.

"I think J.P.'s got several good years left in him," Pederson said. "He does the right things in the offseason to get himself ready to go for another year. I'm really looking forward to visiting him, sitting down and talking to him and, No. 1, seeing where he's at, and then motivating him for the future."

Peters is slated to earn approximately $8 million in 2016 and will carry a $9.7 million salary cap number. The Eagles will have to decide if they can afford to keep him at that number and still pay Bradford and all the various other players they either want to extend or sign.

Peters' production continued to slip last season as he battled through various injuries. He had spoken before about eventually moving to guard, but he was adamant that he would still be the best option the Eagles would have at left tackle. Right tackle Lane Johnson had filled in for Peters during his absences in 2015.

-- Pederson also broke some news. He said the Eagles had just hired Chris Wilson of Missouri to be the defensive line coach. Wilson was hired by Missouri only a month ago, but will be making the jump to the NFL for the first time as a coach.

He previously coached at Southern Cal, Oklahoma, Colorado and Mississippi State, where he worked with Eagles defensive end Fletcher Cox. Wilson was Cox's position coach and defensive coordinator.

"It wasn't the deciding factor," Pederson said of the Cox-Wilson relationship. "I think there's some familiarity there and I think it would be good to have those two together."

Pederson said that he interviewed Wilson with defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz for about 2 1/2 hours Wednesday morning. Wilson has worked with multiple fronts during his career and Pederson said that Schwartz's defense would use both odd- and even-man lines.

The Eagles looked into a large number of candidates for the job, according to Pederson. The team had requested to interview Lions defensive line coach Kris Kocurek but was denied, according to NFL sources.

-- Pederson said he wasn't sure the Eagles would return to having a fullback on the roster. Former coach Chip Kelly didn't use a fullback in his offense. Pederson said using the third tight end, which would be Trey Burton in this instance, to fill the role could be an option.

-- Pederson also said that Kelly's sports science infrastructure would mostly remain in place. The former Eagles coach was at the forefront of using science to benefit players both on and off the field. Asked how much he knew about sports science, Pederson said, "Honestly, very little."

He added: "It's something I want to dive more into. We used it obviously in Kansas City. It can be a benefit to monitor your players. It's a good way for players to recover with all the nutrition, diet and exercise that they do. But at the end of the day, it's football, they're football players, and whatever we can do to get the most out of them."