AP

Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford says he stayed away from the team for two weeks because he needed to collect his thoughts after the Eagles traded up to the No. 2 overall pick to select its quarterback of the future, Carson Wentz.

“I just felt like I needed some time. I could have stayed here, could have continued to work here, but I’m not sure my head really would have been here those two weeks,” Bradford said today, in his first public comments since the drama created by his attempt to orchestrate a trade.

Bradford says he realizes that the starting job isn’t promised to him in perpetuity, but he had hoped when he signed a two-year contract in March that he could be the starter for years to come. That no longer appears likely, as Wentz is expected to be the future of the franchise.

“There’s no promises in this business,” Bradford said. “It wasn’t a long-term deal. It was a two-year deal. I was well aware of that. We talked about that. My goal was to play well for the next two years and create that stability that I talked about for pretty much my whole career. Philadelphia is the place I wanted to be. I wanted to play well for the next two years, create that stability, and then sign a longer-term deal and stay here for the rest of my career.”

Bradford is the Eagles’ starting quarterback right now, but he knows Wentz is likely to supplant him at some point.

“I’m not completely naive,” Bradford said. “If the organization made a move to No. 2, you realize that at some point, it’s not going to be my team.”

Bradford said he still believes Philadelphia is the best place for him. He appears to have come to that conclusion only because his attempt to get himself traded didn’t work. That makes Philadelphia the only place for him.