Cardinals HC hopes Sam Bradford can become long-term QB

In search of a new quarterback, the Arizona Cardinals took a flier on Sam Bradford and offered him a generous $20 million one-year, prove-it deal. A short couple of weeks after, it would appear that new head coach Steve Wilks is looking at the possibility of Bradford playing in Arizona for the long run.

Following the signing of Bradford, which sparked quite the tizzy on social media, the Cardinals also signed Mike Glennon as a backup. Wilks also had this to say in regards to drafting a rookie quarterback and a potential time line for said rookie to start.

“Anything can happen from the standpoint of the draft,” Wilks said, per the team’s official website. “Once a guy is on the roster, as I mentioned before, it’s about competing. I would say, we brought Sam to be the starter, and that’s our intention right there. When you get a young guy, you try to do everything you can to give that young man time to learn and grow within the system. Then when he is ready to play, you can put him in there.”

As long as Bradford can stay healthy, it would seem the Cardinals’ plan is to keep him under center. But we all know that maintaining a clean bill of health is a huge issue for Bradford. Since being selected first overall in 2010 and working for three teams, Bradford has played in only 80 of 128 possible games.

Most recently, the Vikings preferred to stick with quarterback Case Keenum rather than revert back to Bradford once he was cleared to play.

Clearly, the Cardinals are taking a risk here with Bradford and his history of injuries. But the positive is, he was recently able to pass his physical. That is at least a step in the right direction.

And as far as accuracy goes, Bradford averaged a 71.8 completion rate and threw for 23 touchdowns versus five interceptions during his tenure in Minnesota. These numbers are not too shabby.