Vikings GM: If I could, I would make Bradford trade again 'in a second'

There's at least one person who doesn't think the Minnesota Vikings didn't give up too much to acquire Sam Bradford in order to not make the playoffs.

Surprise: It's the guy who made the deal in the first place.

Vikings general manager Rick Spielman told reporters on Thursday that even with 20-20 hindsight, he feels good about trading their 2017 first-round pick and a conditional 2018 fourth-round pick to acquire Bradford from the Philadelphia Eagles.

"I can tell you that, looking back on that trade, with all the other options, I would do that over in a second to get a Sam Bradford on our football team with the circumstances we were dealing with," Spielman said, according to USA TODAY's Tom Pelissero. "Because I think he's got a chance to be a pretty good player, a quarterback, in this league."

Spielman also reiterated Thursday that there is no timetable for quarterback Teddy Bridgewater's return from a catastrophic knee injury that ended his 2016 campaign just days before the season started. Bridgewater's status will dictate what the Vikings do with Bradford moving forward, but for now, everyone is playing the waiting game.

"Everything's in flux right now," Spielman said. "So, I'll just leave it at that."

While the younger Bridgewater would presumably be the Vikings' first choice if he was healthy, Bradford had a passable performance in 2016, throwing for a career-best 3,877 yards with 20 touchdowns and five interceptions. He also set a league record with a 71.6 completion percentage, but faced criticism for rarely throwing downfield and inflating his stats with glorified pitch plays.