CLEVELAND – Despite helping lead his St. Louis Rams to a 33-14 romp over the hapless Cleveland Browns in their pre-season home opener, former Heisman Trophy winner and top pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, Sam Bradford suffered another career-defining injury.
According to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, Bradford, the former top pick out of Oklahoma suffered a season-end injury to his recently surgically repaired ACL after being hit by Browns defensive lineman Amonty Bryant.
Per Mortensen, The Rams will officially announce on Monday that Bradford is done for the 2014-15 season.
After surrounding their franchise quarterback with weapons on offense in the form of wideouts Austin Pettis, Tavon Austin, Steven Bailey, Chris Givens and Kenny Britt, tight ends Jared Cook and Lance Kendricks and running backs Zach Stacy and Tre Mason, the Rams may now have to wonder if it would be best to cut ties with Bradford entirely after this season.
Despite signing free-agent left tackle Jake Long, Bradford—who is now in the fourth year of a six-year, $78 million contract—may not be extended.
Per Pro Football Talk, the Rams would have to decide if a $16.5 million hit in 2015 is worth it for a player who is 20-28-1 and a passer rating of 79.3. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, there was concern internally within the Rams organization about the long-term health of Bradford.
A truly talented quarterback—when healthy—that has never been the case for the five-year veteran as he has played in 49 out of 64 games. With reports out of St Louis Rams’ camp that Bradford is now fine and walking without a limp, the issue of Bradford’s fragility cannot be ignored anymore.
Rams fans everywhere cannot help but worry in the back of that that St Louis may have to ultimately discard their former first-round quarterback, if he cannot manage to stay on the field and help them win games in the top-heavy NFC West.
For current news, sports, entertainment, politics and more please follow us at @TheInscriberMag and like us on Facebook: The Inscriber : Digital Magazine