EARTH CITY, Mo. — Throughout the offseason, the St. Louis Rams insisted quarterback Sam Bradford would be their quarterback for the 2015 season.

He met with Frank Cignetti before Cignetti was promoted from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. He had dinner with Cignetti and Chris Weinke before Weinke was named quarterbacks coach.

But all that meant little when the Rams dropped a bombshell Tuesday by dealing Bradford to the Philadelphia Eagles for quarterback Nick Foles. The trade also reportedly includes a swap of draft choices in an unknown round this year and conditional picks in 2016.

The Eagles get a quarterback who has missed the last 25 games because of two torn ACLs and has played a total of just 49 of a possible 80 games since being the first overall choice in the 2010 draft.

The Rams get a quarterback who was selected in the third round of the 2012 draft, excelled at a high level when he took over for Michael Vick in 2013, and then slumped in eight starts last season before missing the final eight games after suffering a broken clavicle.

Finances certainly played a role in the deal. Bradford, who was paid $65 million for those 49 games, is entering the final year of his contract and has a base salary of $12.985 million. He was scheduled to count $16.58 million against the Rams cap, including the final year of signing bonus proration of $3.595 million.

The Rams had been trying to restructure Bradford’s contract to reduce the cap charge, but were met with resistance. The $3.595 million will still count against the Rams’ cap as dead money.

Foles, meanwhile, is also entering the final year of his contract, but at a significantly lower cap charge: $1.542 million. That total includes a $20,000 workout bonus. The swap saves the Rams $11.443 million against the cap. Their quarterback depth chart now shows Foles, Austin Davis and Case Keenum, who was acquired Tuesday from the Houston Texas for a seventh-round pick in 2016. Keenum was claimed on waivers by the Rams from Houston last summer after Bradford had been lost for the season.

He was later waived and added to the practice squad, but was signed by the Texans late in the season because of injuries and started Houston’s final two games. Shaun Hill, who entered the 2014 season as Bradford’s backup and started eight games, left for Minnesota Tuesday as an unrestricted free agent.

While the universal perception is that Foles is now the Rams’ nominal starter, don’t tell that to Davis. He has been tendered $1.542 million as a restricted free agent, the same money that Foles is slated to earn. Last season, when both started eight games, their numbers were remarkably similar.

Foles completed 186-of-311 passes (59.8) percent for 2,163 yards (6.95 per attempt) with 13 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a passer rating of 81.4. Davis, meanwhile, starting the first games of his career, was 180-for-284 (63.4 percent) for 2,001 yards (7.05 per attempt) with 12 touchdowns, nine interceptions and a passer rating of 85.1.

On the Eagles’ side, there are those that believe head coach Chip Kelly is merely acquiring Bradford to potentially use him in another trade so he can get in position to select Marcus Mariota in this year’s draft. Bradford doesn’t appear to fit Kelly’s up-tempo style of offense. The Eagles have re-signed quarterback Mark Sanchez, and also have Matt Barkley on the roster.

Does another Bradford trade appear out of the question? Normally, most would say yes. But maybe not in an NFL year just starting where it’s obvious we have to expect the unexpected.