Philadelphia Eagles: Signing Joe Flacco is fantastic news for Jalen Hurts

Heading into the new year with just one quarterback on the roster, the backup QB position was expected to be a priority for the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason. While they passed on some of the higher-tier backups in Jacoby Brissett and Tyrod Taylor, Howie Roseman and Co. ultimately landed on an option that surely excited the likes of one Jalen Hurts.

A 36 year old New Jersey native, Joe Flacco‘s days of competing for starting jobs are long behind him. The former Super Bowl MVP filled in as a spot starter at times for the Denver Broncos and the New York Jets over the last two seasons, but ultimately speaking, Flacco is a guy who had his starting duties yanked from him way back in 2018 by the likes of Lamar Jackson.

As the Eagles look to move forward with their own respective young, mobile quarterback, the odds that Flacco is being brought into the NovaCare Complex this season to legitimately “compete” are incredibly slim, regardless of what the Eagles front office might say about the signing.

The Philadelphia Eagles appear to be committing to Jalen Hurts this season.

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For what it’s worth, it’s unclear if bringing in someone rather non-threatening is what’s best for Philadelphia moving forward. As much as fans want the team to commit to building around Hurts in 2021 (something they failed to do with Carson Wentz in 2020), having an open competition at the QB position this summer likely would have yielded better results.

As exciting as Hurts’ first two starts were, he severely struggled against the Dallas Cowboys in a must-win game in Week 16, and was struggling to move the ball against Washington during the first half of the season finale. The former second-round pick finished the year with a completion rate of 52%, one of the lowest in the entire league.

Someone like Brissett or Taylor (or even Marcus Mariota) could have given the Eagles’ new-look coaching staff a bit of a security blanket to fall back on should Hurts fail to take a step forward this season.

While the Philadelphia Eagles will likely be taking a QB at some point during this year’s NFL Draft, the recent addition of Flacco likely rules them out of taking one with their first-round pick. There’s been some serious talk of the team eyeing up the likes of Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, and Mac Jones, but it’s pretty hard to imagine that Flacco signed on to be the team’s “QB3.”

There was likely some sort of guarantee that Flacco would be the Eagles’ lead backup quarterback this season, which means Hurts is locked in as the team’s starter for the time being.

With that said, this is the same front office that paid Chase Daniels $21 million over three years just to release him after one season. It’s honestly hard to predict what Howie Roseman and the rest of the front office has in mind when it comes to their often malfunctioning “QB factory.”

Ultimately speaking, the acquisition of a late 30 year old Joe Flacco on a one-year deal definitely sends off positive signals when it comes to Hurts’ QB1 status in 2021. For better or worse, it seems like the Philadelphia Eagles, as an organization, are committing to the former Oklahoma/Alabama prospect for at least one full season.