Agent: Sam Bradford Holdout Was Bait For Broncos

(The Sports Xchange) - Sam Bradford is back with the Philadelphia Eagles only after his agent-orchestrated holdout failed to produce the intended result – getting the quarterback shipped to the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos.

Tom Condon told Sirius/XM Radio that the Broncos represented the one life raft out of Philadelphia for Bradford, who signed a two-year, $35 million contract only to see the Eagles deal multiple draft picks in order to select their quarterback of the future, Carson Wentz, second overall in the 2016 NFL Draft.

Condon has been in similar waters before. He helped Eli Manning boycott the San Diego Chargers in the 2004 NFL Draft, working a trade with the New York Giants.

"The Denver Broncos certainly needed a quarterback at the time. Or it looked like they could need a quarterback at the time. They've got Mark Sanchez. Good guy, good player. But was there a chance that we could get there?," Condon said. "And so Sam withdrew from the workouts and voiced his displeasure, and at that point the desired result occurred. The Denver Broncos engaged with Philadelphia."

The Broncos only briefly conversed with the Eagles, who were thought to be seeking at least a first-round pick in return for Bradford, a player who spent last season in Philadelphia following a trade out of St. Louis.

When the Eagles took Wentz at No. 2 and the Broncos landed Paxton Lynch at No. 25, Bradford's fate, at least for now, was in Philadelphia.

Players and analysts ripped Bradford for his mild protest and the appearance that he was unwilling to compete for his job. The Eagles, who hired Doug Pederson to replace Chip Kelly in January, also signed Pederson pupil Chase Daniel as the No. 2 quarterback. Daniel played in Pederson's offense in Kansas City.

"Being afraid to compete -- that's just not the reality," Condon said. "The reality is, when you go from (drafting) 13 to 2, and you spend a lot of draft choices instead of drafting players that are going to go in there and hopefully improve your supporting cast, and you take a guy who is not going to play for a year or two, maybe -- you've said all that you need to say."