If I had to pick a winner in the 2018 NFL free agency sweepstakes, I’d have to go with Sam Bradford’s agent, Tom Condon.

Sammy B signed a one, year, $20 million deal with the Arizona Cardinals, with $15 million guaranteed.

This is for a 30-year-old quarterback who appeared in just two games this season before going on injured reserve. Bradford has played eight NFL seasons but has never won more than seven games and has never made a playoff appearance, yet he’s earned the following dollar amounts since entering the league in 2010:

Not sure how it happened, but he actually turned a lost season into MORE free agent money.

There are a lot of great ways to put this in perspective, and you don’t even have to cherry pick. Most wild comparisons jump right off the page at you.

For example, Bradford has made almost as much in eight seasons ($134 million) as Aaron Rodgers has made in 12 seasons ($137 million). Bradford has a 34-45-1 career record with 101 touchdowns and 57 interceptions. Rodgers is 94-48 with 313 TDs and 78 picks. And that’s just in the regular season.

In 2018, Bradford will make just a little less than Tom Brady, Matt Ryan, and Cam Newton. He’ll make more than a bunch of better quarterbacks still on their first contracts, like Jared Goff, Carson Wentz, and Marcus Mariota.

Case Keenum, who took over for Bradford and led Minnesota to the NFC Championship Game this season, will earn $36 million over the next two years with the Denver Broncos. So he’s actually making less per year than Bradford but coming off the better season and probably has more upside as a less injury-prone player.

In addition to bringing in Bradford, the Cardinals made cap room by releasing one of their best and most likable players, 25-year-old cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, who is already being heavily recruited:

The Cards also signed Mike Glennon to back-up Bradford on a two year, $8 million deal. Glennon is 6-16 in four NFL seasons and threw for 4 touchdowns and 5 interceptions last year.

Elsewhere around the league, this happened:

  • Tyrod Taylor —> Browns (for a 3rd round pick)
  • A.J. McCarron —> Bills (2 years, $10m, with a potential out for $6.9m)
  • Drew Brees (stayed with the Saints)
  • Kirk Cousins —> Vikings (3 years, $86m)
  • Teddy Bridgewater —> Jets (1 year, up to $15m with incentives)
  • Chase Daniel —> Bears (2 years, $10m, potential out at $7m guaranteed)

With Daniel (not Daniels, there’s no freaking ‘s’ in his last name), consider this:

Life of a back-up quarterback. It’s great! Sometimes you even get to lead your team to the Lombardi trophy, like Nick Foles.

That’s the market in 2018. Kirk Cousins is the NFL’s highest-paid player at $28 million per year, fully guaranteed. Jimmy Garoppolo is #2 on the list, about $500k behind.

Cousins threw 99 touchdowns and 55 interceptions in six seasons with Washington. The Skins went 26-30-1 in his 57 appearances. Garoppolo had two career starts before the 49ers got him from New England midway through the season.

That’s how important the quarterback position is in the NFL. Teams are guaranteeing Kirk Cousins more than $80 million and lifetime back-ups and injury-prone veterans get similarly chunky deals.

It just serves as a reminder that Eagles fans should feel GREAT about this town’s quarterback situation, and really appreciate what Howie Roseman has been able to do in a few short years since Chip Kelly’s departure. You’ve got a young franchise QB returning from injury next year, a back-up who won you the Super Bowl, and a third-stringer that the organization seems to be very high on.

Free agency goes a long way towards putting things in perspective.