AP

Teams can begin applying the franchise tag today, but it doesn’t appear the Eagles are in any hurry to participate.

According to Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News, the Eagles aren’t expected to use either the franchise or transition tag to squat on the rights of quarterback Sam Bradford, setting the stage for him to hit the free agent market.

While they have a glaring hole in their depth chart if they don’t retain Bradford, they apparently don’t consider it enough of one to justify paying Bradford around $20 million for one year.

Bradford looked reasonably proficient at times last year, and would likely draw interest on the free agent market. But with the Eagles working to lock up a number of young players to long-term deals, having Bradford sitting there as a $20 million anchor on the cap could prevent some of the moves they want to make.

Of course, that means they’d have to find someone to replace him, since it’s unlikely they view Mark Sanchez as the answer.

New coach Doug Pederson has background with Chiefs backup quarterback Chase Daniel, but the market isn’t exactly flush with answers.