After what Howie Roseman classified as a “disappointing” 2019 season, the Eagles have plenty of work to do this offseason. Free agency begins on March 18.
Carson Wentz is locked in as the starter but Josh McCown and Nate Sudfeld are both free agents. It seems likely McCown retires and is Sudfeld accomplished enough to be the No. 2? The only other quarterback on the roster is Kyle Lauletta.
So here’s an early look at five backup quarterback options for the Birds in free agency:
Teddy Bridgewater
Bridgewater is still just 28 and this probably won’t happen because there will likely be better landing spots for him. Heck, there’s still a chance Drew Brees retires, so Bridgewater could possibly stay in New Orleans. As a backup in 2019, Bridgewater won all five of his starts, throwing nine touchdowns and two picks. He should go somewhere where he can start or at least compete for a job.
Marcus Mariota
The former No. 2 overall pick lost his starting job with the Titans in 2019 and I’m not sure he’s going to just get another starting gig. But in Philly he’d be a serviceable backup in case Wentz were to miss extended time. And this would probably annoy Chip Kelly.
NFL
Chase Daniel
He’s 33 now but he knows the Eagles’ offense — at least the nuts and bolts of it — and he was fine as a backup to Mitchell Trubisky in Chicago for a couple years. We know he’d get along fine with Wentz and Doug Pederson.
Joe Flacco
The Audubon native isn’t technically set to be a free agent yet but it appears pretty likely to me that the Broncos will release Flacco. He’s 35 now and I doubt he’ll get a another crack at a starting gig. But as a backup, the Eagles could certainly do worse.
Colin Kaepernick
Back at Kaepernick’s workout in November, the Eagles sent then-VP of football operations Andrew Berry to watch. That seemed pretty significant at the time. Berry is now the GM in Cleveland but it showed the Eagles had at least some interest, more than other teams. This is still a long shot and Kap hasn’t played since 2016. It certainly seems unlikely that Kaepernick ever plays in the NFL again but if any team gives him a shot, the Eagles would make some sense.