PHILADELPHIA – It is a little bit of a paradox. Chip Kelly is seeking stability at the quarterback position with a guy who has missed 31 of 64 possible starts over the past four seasons.

“Everybody gets hurt in this game,” Kelly said during a sitdown with reporters last month. “I don’t know any quarterback who hasn’t missed time. Tom Brady missed a year. Peyton Manning missed a year. Drew Brees has missed time. Nick Foles missed half a season. Aaron Rodgers has been hurt.

Sam Bradford has missed 34 games in his four-year career. Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports

“I don’t know if there’s any quarterback in this league who hasn’t been hurt. And if you haven’t, you’re probably young. You’re going to get hurt in this game.”

Sam Bradford would not have been available to the Eagles if not for the two tears of his left anterior cruciate ligament. For Kelly, whose starting quarterback missed a total of 12 starts in two years with the Eagles, the risk with Bradford is no more compelling than the risk with Foles. And the upside is much greater.

“I’ve seen quarterbacks like Drew Brees come back with 25 staples in his shoulder and everybody said he would never play again,” Kelly said. “Ask the Miami Dolphins what their franchise would be like if their doctors hadn’t failed him on the medical [exam]. You don’t know. Maybe Nick Saban is still coaching in the NFL.”

The Dolphins passed on the chance to acquire Brees in 2006. The New Orleans Saints took a chance and were rewarded with a Super Bowl victory.

Brees’ consistent performance in New Orleans has made the Saints one of the NFL’s better franchises since he came to town. Brady did miss a year with a torn ACL, but has otherwise been reliably available and outstanding.

That is what Kelly is hoping to find with Bradford.

“When you get to have the same quarterback play in the same system – look what Peyton did for all those years in Indianapolis,” Kelly said. “I just think it’s beneficial. That’s what you hope when you get a quarterback you can hang your hat on, who’s going to be here for a while. We’d like to get a quarterback in here that we can hang our hat on, that we can build the rest of the team around.”

The St. Louis Rams took Bradford with the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft and invested a $78 million contract in the hope that he would be their longtime quarterback. Injuries spoiled that plan. Kelly is hoping that Bradford’s luck will change with this change of scenery.