It will be difficult for Bradford to navigate mess he's created

THE PRODIGAL SAM has returned.

"Fatted calf" was a hasty addition to the Monday menu at the NovaCare cafeteria.

But what happens next?

We assume Eagles coach Doug Pederson will reinstall Sam Bradford as the starting quarterback, and the team will go on its merry way, resuming the course interrupted by management's trade up to second overall in the draft to select QB Carson Wentz. Fans won't see Bradford in person until August; by then, their indignation over his disappearance from two weeks' worth of voluntary workouts and his request to be traded will have had plenty of time to cool.

Bradford's camp released a statement Monday through ESPN's Adam Schefter: "I'm excited to be back on the field today with my teammates and coaches. The business side of football is sometimes a necessary consideration. My attention and efforts are focused on the participation in and preparation for a championship season: I am committed to my teammates and the Eagles organization for nothing less."

Teammates didn't get anything more than that, Eagles sources confirmed, but they really didn't need more. They are employees, not fans of the team. Most of them don't know if they'll be here past this season. They understood a guy trying to do what he thought best for his future, even if, like many of us, they couldn't quite see themselves taking that particular path. In the weeks ahead, if Bradford seems to be working hard and doing his best, they aren't going to care if he would really rather be in Denver. So would many of them, truth be told.

But teammates' reaction to Bradford missing a few weeks of voluntary work is not the only consideration here. Three, four, six months down the road, can the unwieldy Eagles-Bradford-Wentz relationship work?

Is Bradford really going to lead the team, with a talented, charismatic rookie standing behind him, and everyone in town eager to see what the kid can do? That will take a stronger, smoother, more confident, vocal Bradford than we've seen.

The Eagles would have been very glad to hold a Bradford press conference Monday, have Bradford face all the questions, get it over with. Instead, his agent released a statement to a guy at ESPN. Apparently, Bradford won't answer questions until May 17, the next media availability for Eagles veterans. Not promising.

As we go forward, every interaction between Bradford and Wentz is going to be scrutinized endlessly. Everything Wentz says is going to be deconstructed to highlight any differences between his personality and Bradford's, or any implicit criticisms of Bradford. We've already seen this dynamic at work, when Wentz was asked about quarterbacks he admired and he (gasp!) didn't include Bradford.

Everything Bradford says will be parsed for digs at management, Pederson, or Wentz. Every Bradford incomplete pass, every stalled drive, will bring grumbles from the stands.

To an extent, all of this was on tap even before the trade request. But now, with agent Tom Condon having proclaimed that Bradford "doesn't view himself as a stopgap quarterback . . . He doesn't want to be there holding a placecard, and then wondering where he's going to go at the end of the year," the microscope will zoom in much tighter.

On paper, what the Eagles are trying to do makes sense. They have a roster that ought to allow them to compete in the NFC East this season, especially if they have the Bradford of the second half of the 2015 season as their QB. Wentz is a guy with 23 college starts. Let him learn from Bradford and from Chase Daniel, the QB Pederson brought in for his deep understanding of Pederson's offense.

The Eagles knew this was going to be delicate. In the minutes after they concluded the trade up to second overall, they took Bradford aside as he was about to trot onto the practice field, for a meeting with Pederson, Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie. How often does that happen?

The brain trust could see potential pitfalls looming, and tried to keep Bradford from digging a hole that could swallow the season. He picked up the shovel anyway. Did he dig himself in too deep to climb out?

The public trade request was a disastrous tactic. If you play in this market, where the fanbase types with the caps lock on 365 days a year, you have to know that's the nuclear option. You push that button, there's no going back. So you don't tell the world you want to leave unless you have a solid trade scenario on tap, or you're really ready to sit until the team decides to cut its losses. (And unless you figure that whatever circumstance you eventually end up in is better for you than creating a platform for a long-term deal by being good and healthy for the Eagles this season.)

The hand played by Bradford and Condon seems to have held some lukewarm Broncos interest, and . . . uh, nothing. Condon didn't have a trade in his back pocket. Bradford, owed $18 million this season, wasn't willing to sit out long term. And if he had been, it's hard to see how some team picking him up late in the process, months from now, would present a better opportunity for Bradford's future than could be forged by playing well as the undisputed 2016 starter here.

Yet, in a podcast interview with former agent and Eagles executive Andrew Brandt recorded on April 28, Condon openly questioned how much clout Bradford will have with his teammates and predicted he would only be the starter "until the rookie is ready to go."

Just what you'd want your agent to say on your behalf in such a circumstance, no doubt. Yet Bradford continues to let Condon shape how he is viewed.

Finessing the minefield that lies ahead with the Eagles and Wentz is going to take a lot of savvy, thoughtful navigation by Bradford - a guy who two weeks ago decided the best way to get around a roadblock was to drive his career into a tree.

@LesBowen

Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog