Jeffrey Lurie wants to win, and Jeffrey Lurie wants to be relevant.

These two guiding principles act as a baseline when examining the Philadelphia Eagles owner and his team's big decisions -- such as the one that came down Saturday morning when Sam Bradford was dealt to the Minnesota Vikings for a first-round pick in 2017 and a conditional fourth-rounder in 2018.

Most times, those two go hand-in-hand. The more you win, the better your chances of grabbing headlines and being in the center of the conversation.

This year, though, was a bit of a unique beast. Unwilling to sacrifice a season in the name of a rebuild, Lurie signed a very large check to keep Bradford in the fold, believing he gave them the best chance to be competitive in what is perceived as a winnable NFC East. He soon wrote another one for Chase Daniel, who could shorten the learning curve involved when introducing a new offensive system.

He couldn’t have anticipated then that Howie Roseman, his executive vice president of football operations, would be able to trade up and then trade up again to vault into the No. 2 spot in the 2016 NFL draft to nab the apple of their eye, Carson Wentz. Even so, the organization resisted the temptation to deal away Bradford to the Denver Broncos and moved forward with the plan of having Bradford as the starter and Daniel as the backup while bringing Wentz along slowly.

With the prized possession buried on the depth chart, the buzz surrounding the team dipped to near record lows. Guarded in the aftermath of the failed experiment of former coach Chip Kelly and uninspired by the pairing of Doug Pederson and Bradford, many fans took a step back, crossed their arms and braced for a long wait until their main source of hope -- Wentz -- was given the reins.

That wait proved to be a short one. Bradford is gone and, per Adam Caplan, the Eagles intend on playing Wentz against the Cleveland Browns in Week 1, if healthy. He’s still working back from a hairline rib fracture but, by the sounds of it, he’ll be under center in no time.

Safe to say, the buzz is back. Wentz will be running around and slinging the rock and perhaps providing visions of what could be a very bright future thanks to the kid out of North Dakota State.

And he should have a better group around him moving forward now with first- and fourth-round picks (the 2018 conditional fourth-rounder could become a third- or second-rounder depending on how far the Vikings potentially go in the playoffs) coming in return for Bradford that help recoup some of the assets lost when the Eagles aggressively moved up in the draft to acquire Wentz.

From that end, the organization maneuvered deftly. They acquired what they believe to be a young franchise quarterback, set a price for Bradford that Denver failed to reach, and pounced when Minnesota agreed to a level of compensation that would help ensure their quarterback was not working with a depleted roster around him.

Still, this all brings up pretty significant questions, none more important than this: Is Wentz ready? He played only part of one preseason game, is still on the mend physically and is making a rather large jump from the FCS to the NFL. If the plan was to keep him off the field this season in part because he still needed time to develop, could he have shown enough in practice to convince the powers that be that the plan could be scrapped?

If the original idea of keeping him on ice for a year felt long and drawn out, this one seems rushed.

By all accounts, the coaching staff and front office was pleased by Bradford’s performance this summer, which helped move everyone past the rough patch in the immediate wake of the Wentz move in which Bradford -- or his representation -- demanded a trade. There seemed to be no shift in the thought process that Bradford gave this team the best chance to win now.

Maybe reality hit, and management realized that the roster wasn’t good enough to make any real noise this season. Maybe the offer from Minnesota was just too good to pass up. Maybe Wentz was that impressive on the fields of the NovaCare Complex in their eyes.

But the Eagles’ chances of winning in 2016 likely take a hit as a result of this decision, while their relevancy shoots through the roof.

Perhaps the thinking is that, in time, both will be high and side-by-side before long thanks to this decision, just as Lurie likes it.