SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Take one potential chip off Chip Kelly’s table.
Sure, it was a leap, but it was a logical leap to lump Sam Bradford into the prospective quarterback candidates to join the San Francisco 49ers this offseason, given his history with Kelly and the Philadelphia Eagles.
After being acquired by Kelly in a trade last season, Bradford passed for 3,725 yards, 19 touchdowns and 14 interception while completing 65.0 percent of his passes in 14 games.
So with him due to become an unrestricted free agent on March 9, and with the Niners QB situation so unsettled, dots were starting to connect, yes?
Um, no. Not with the Eagles locking Bradford up Tuesday with a two-year, $36 million contract with $26 million guaranteed.
The Niners? They are still trying to figure out who will be under center in 2016.
Because while general manager Trent Baalke said Colin Kaepernick would “absolutely” be on the 49ers’ roster on April 1, when $11.9 million of his contract becomes guaranteed, and Kelly said Kaepernick “wants to be here,” the QB’s agents have requested permission from the team to seek a trade.
Yes, it’s still March, but if the relationship is somewhat untenable now, how bad might it be come next month?
Kelly has already praised Blaine Gabbert, who replaced the benched Kaepernick midway through last season, and there are a number of quarterbacks who could hit the market, from Robert Griffin III, to Brock Osweiler to Ryan Fitzpatrick to Tarvaris Jackson to, yes, even Kaepernick himself.
Beyond that, the Niners have the No. 7 overall draft pick (they are expected to have as many as 12 pick after compensatory selections are announced) and the top three-rated college quarterbacks are Cal’s Jared Goff, North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz and Memphis’ Paxton Lynch.
