Free agency hasn’t even started yet and it’s already stressful for Eagles fans. It may not be the most prominent need on the roster, but it’s safe to say that finding a reliable veteran quarterback to mentor Jalen Hurts and act as an insurance policy in case of injury or otherwise should be pretty high on Howie’s to-do list. Minor quibble – all of the logical options are already off the board.
If we look back at the Doug Pederson era, finding quarterbacks with links to the existing coaching staff was the common denominator. Chase Daniel backed up Alex Smith during Pederson’s stint as Chiefs offensive coordinator, and Nick Foles was drafted by the Eagles in 2012, when Pederson was the team’s quarterbacks coach and had also worked with him in Kansas City.
There were several really strong options available to the Eagles in an offseason where finding a reliable backup quarterback was important. Jacoby Brissett spent three years under new head coach Nick Sirianni, and Tyrod Taylor worked with offensive coordinator Shane Steichen in L.A. Both are now off the market.
Further complicating things, Ryan Fitzpatrick was swiped from the free agency pool yesterday and was one of the few QB’s with a link to a member of the team’s new coaching staff. Fitzmagic had previously had a career-year under Kevin Patullo, who is now the team’s passing-game coordinator.
Andy Dalton just signed a deal in Chicago and while he was never really a likely option (likely due to money, but we all know it’s really since anyone to even so much as sniff a Dallas jersey seems to implode when landing in Philadelphia) it continues the run of free agent quarterbacks.
There are plenty of veteran names available and many are going to come at a very cheap price, but none of the deals over the past two days were particularly blistering and this was thought to be one of the few positions that the team would invest in given their ‘QB Factory’ mentality. It will be very interesting to see who the team does eventually settle on after losing the Brissett sweepstakes.
In a worst case scenario, I’m sure Greg Ward Jr. could throw a dime or two…
Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire
