Eagles on the Brink of Insanity
Monday marked the unofficial start of the NFL season with the legal tampering period starting Monday at noon and deals being signed and agreed upon in principle left and right. The Eagles have been very quiet in the first 24 hours of the legal tampering period, trying to restructure contracts on their own team just to make sure they are under the salary cap when the new league year starts on Wednesday. The Eagles also lost a few free agents to the early market, such as safeties Jalen Mills and Rudy Ford, but the Eagles know they aren’t in a position financially to make a big splash early and overpay or gamble on a free agent that will hurt their cap even more. However, the Birds have holes that they will need to begin to fill in free agency and continue to fill in the draft. One of these holes is a backup quarterback for Jalen Hurts.
A week after Jeffrey Lurie was quoted saying that he did not want any quarterback competition for Jalen Hurts this offseason, Adam Caplan reported yesterday that the Eagles are interested in bringing in Jacoby Brissett as a free agent quarterback option. On the surface, this makes a ton of sense. Brissett has been a top backup in the league since he was traded to Indianapolis to play for an injured Andrew Luck. He has started two seasons in his career and while he has only posted an 11-19 record as a starter, he has thrown for 31 touchdowns and only 13 interceptions with passer ratings of 81.4 and 88.0 respectively in those two seasons. The reason Brissett seems like a logical choice for the Eagles is his obvious ties to Nick Sirianni. Sirianni was Brissett’s offensive coordinator in Indianapolis and it would seem smart to bring in a veteran back up that knows the system that is being implemented to help a second-year quarterback in a brand new system. Brissett has also shown how great of a teammate he is, especially recently when he backed up Phillip Rivers last season and came in for quarterback sneaks and Hail Mary throws. Brissett could be an awesome addition to Hurts’ development as a player and in the new Sirianni system. The logic is there, Brissett would be considered one of the best backups in the league and probably a top 5 quarterback in the division (if not higher). The only problem is signing Jacoby Brissett would be the definition of insanity by the Eagles.
Quarterback controversy has been a part of the Eagles’ offseason and in-season since the Super Bowl win against New England. The Nick Foles vs Carson Wentz controversy divided the fanbase and fractured the relationship with the quarterback the Eagles drafted second overall and gave over $100 million. The Eagles then turned around and drafted Jalen Hurts in the second round, destroying the relationship with Wentz which is ultimately why on Wednesday he will officially be a member of the Indianapolis Colts.
Albert Einstein once said: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Signing Jacoby Brissett would bring in yet another unnecessary quarterback controversy to the Eagles. Brissett immediately puts heat on Jalen Hurts to perform well in camp and early on next season. Sirianni knows Brissett’s skillset and has won games with Brissett in the past. Sirianni and his staff did not draft Jalen Hurts in the second round of last year’s draft and have no real ties to Hurts other than he is the quarterback that was inherited. If Hurts struggles out of the gate, what will prevent Sirianni from pulling the plug early in favor of Brissett?
Bringing in Jacoby Brissett is bringing in another quarterback controversy to a team and fanbase that deserves a break. This season should be all about Jalen Hurts’ development and finding out whether he is a franchise quarterback or whether the franchise needs to look into their next option. It wouldn’t be fair to Hurts to add a more experienced quarterback who has a relationship with the new head coach to the fold.
Quarterback factories fail as we saw last season. Quarterback rooms can win, as we saw in the 2017 season. The Eagles have to stop trying to be a factory and start becoming a room again where the goal is to have the starter ready to win football games on Sunday, with the backup always ready, but not necessarily a threat to take over at any point.
Brissett makes sense on the surface, he knows the system and he is a solid NFL quarterback. But if the Eagles sign Jacoby Brissett, they are welcoming a controversy to a team with a new coaching staff and second-year quarterback. That would be the definition of insanity.
Feature Image: AP Photo/Michael Perez
Source: Adam Caplan @caplannfl
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Categorized:Eagles