Eagles mailbag: Sam Bradford, NFL draft, Fletcher Cox

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There really isn't an NFL offseason. 

At least not this year. 

The Eagles have been busy in the month since the 2015 season ended under interim coach Pat Shurmur. Shurmur's in Minnesota as the Vikings' tight ends coach. Doug Pederson is now the Eagles' head coach, with a full staff in place. And Howie Roseman is clearly back in control. 

And we still have a couple weeks until the combine. 

So before the Eagles sign someone else, let's jump into your questions. 

We got several questions regarding Sam Bradford and the Eagles' quarterback situation. I wrote a column this week saying the Eagles should sign Bradford to a long-term deal and give him a chance to live up to his potential (you can read the full thing here).

Basically, I outlined that Bradford had a pretty good year in 2015 and played even better as he got further away from his second ACL surgery. I think Bradford gives the Eagles the best chance of winning next year because the team has a pretty solid foundation. Bradford is still just 28, reaching the prime years for an NFL quarterback. I think he's back next year. 

Now, a lot of people disagreed with my stance, which I expected. What I didn't expect was how many people agreed and think Bradford is the best choice. That's all I'm saying. It's not a clear-cut home run, but it's the best of a tricky situation. 

https://twitter.com/flymattyfly/status/695644217356394497

Whether or not Bradford's back, I still think the Eagles will draft a quarterback. Now, that does't mean they'll use their No. 13 pick on one, but I'd be surprised if they didn't leave the draft with a young quarterback to groom in the system. Remember, right now, Mark Sanchez is the only quarterback under contract. 

OK, you want names, so I'll try. If they want to take one in the first round, it'll be dependent on which guy(s) are left. It sounds like Paxton Lynch might be the only guy left at 13. But Carson Wentz or Jared Goff could fall too.  

If we look into the mid and later rounds, here are some names: Christian Hackenberg, Dak Prescott, Jacoby Brissett, Cardale Jones, Jeff Driskel. Some names you probably already have an opinion on and some definite project-type prospects. 

Yeah, you're right that offensive line is the Eagles' biggest need in the draft. The decision to neglect the position in recent drafts in baffling. 

After that, it's probably defensive back. At the Senior Bowl, Pederson said the crop of DBs is pretty deep. Good thing for the Eagles, because they'll be looking for a couple, especially with Walter Thurmond and E.J. Biggers set to be free agents. Obviously, Thurmond is a bigger loss. The Eagles don't have great depth in the secondary; they should look to change that in April. 

I also think wide receiver is still a spot of need. The Eagles didn't have a 1,000-yard receiver last year, so it wouldn't hurt to bring in some young talent at that position, especially if Riley Cooper gets cut. 

Yeah. He should be healthy for OTAs. I expect they'll keep Caleb Sturgis around for a competition — Sturgis has earned that. But Parkey should be the Eagles' kicker next season. 

This is where we joke that Roseman has some compromising photos of Lurie. (laughter, laughter, laughter) OK, we have that out of our system. Really, I'm not sure why Lurie trusts Roseman as much as he does, enough to basically give him full control of the organization again. 

What I will say is this: while Roseman's track record as a talent evaluator is suspect, he is very good at other things. The way he manages a cap is superb and the deals he put together for Zach Ertz, Lane Johnson and Vinny Curry were done very well. On the surface, it looks like he overpaid, but he didn't. He struck before the prices went up. 

Yes. It's just a matter of time. With Roseman in charge, he's not going to let Cox slip away. Cox has another year left on his deal, but Roseman likes to get these deals done way before there's talk of a guy like Cox becoming a free agent. 

The organization clearly identified some core building blocks and Cox is at the top of the list.

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