Go ahead and cancel the fireside Kumbaya songs led by training camp counselor Doug Pederson this summer.
They’re not going to happen.
After all the Eagles did this offseason in an attempt to cultivate a family atmosphere and feeling inside the NovaCare Complex, it’s not even May yet and there’s already trouble.
Last week, the Eagles used their assets to acquire the No. 2 pick in this year’s NFL draft, with which they’ll select who they hope will be a franchise quarterback. That didn’t make current starting quarterback Sam Bradford very happy. In fact, it peeved him enough to reportedly request a trade out of town and to stop showing up to workouts. The Eagles, meanwhile, don’t seem inclined to trade Bradford, which leaves the two sides at an uncomfortable impasse.
Money aside, this puts the Eagles in a difficult situation.
And regardless of whose side you take on this particular topic — the Eagles' or Bradford's — one thing is clear: This isn’t good for business.
And it certainly isn’t good for a building that was finally showing a united front.
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Really, this offseason started before the 2015 season ever ended, when Jeff Lurie decided enough was enough and fired head coach and de facto general manager Chip Kelly after less than three years on the job and less than one year with personnel control.
Lurie wanted to take back control of his organization. He did.
Sure, there were plenty of people in the NovaCare Complex who got along fine with Kelly, but there were also contentious relationships, and things were very different under him than they were in the 14 prior years under Andy Reid.
Reid was sometimes tough, but also warm and cuddly like a big ol’ bear. Kelly was a porcupine with a mean streak.
So Lurie ousted Kelly and put ex-GM Howie Roseman back in charge of the team. Then, Roseman and Lurie teamed up and went out to find a new head coach. They settled on Pederson, who, sure, didn’t have the shiniest resume, but at least he was like Reid. Warm, cuddly, familiar. The type of coach players wanted to play for. The anti-Chip.
By this time, things were going according to plan. Kelly was long gone and the team brought in someone who wouldn’t alienate folks in the building.
Next was to undo the perceived damage Chip caused. No, this didn’t necessarily mean cutting or trading all the players Kelly brought in — even though that’s kind of what ended up happening. No, it meant keeping the franchise’s best young talent instead of dumping players like DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy.
Eventually, the Eagles did end up making several noteworthy moves in free agency, but Roseman throughout the process continued to claim the most important moves the team made were the ones that brought back their talented younger players. Players like Vinny Curry and Lane Johnson and Zach Ertz.
This offseason started as an attempt to make Philadelphia the type of city that would reward players’ contributions, not the type of city they’d have to worry about being shipped from. It was all a part of a plan to change the culture and feel of the organization, get it back to where it was.
Everything was going according to plan.
Then this.
Bradford hasn’t achieved much of anything in the NFL and didn’t find success in Philly last year until the last half of his season. But his teammates seem to like him, especially young and talented players like Jordan Matthews and Ertz.
It’s fair to wonder if the bitter taste in Bradford’s mouth will affect his teammates and to what degree. It’s also fair to wonder if the lasting effects would be felt even after a hypothetical trade to get Bradford out of town.
Sure, this might all blow over. Maybe in a couple weeks, Bradford will have a change of heart and he’ll show up to the voluntary OTAs or at least to the mandatory minicamp from June 7-9 to avoid being fined.
"It’s April, these things have a way of working themselves out," Roseman said Monday (see story).
So maybe come training camp, Bradford will be on board and the Eagles will be singing Kumbaya around the campfire, laughing and having a good time.
But for now, Counselor Pederson better leave that guitar in storage.