Philadelphia Eagles: Could the team roster just two QBs on the 53?

The preseason is over for the Philadelphia Eagles and now the team will turn their attention to making their final counts, trimming down to the 53-man roster. Philadelphia has until 4:00 PM ET on Tuesday, August 30th to cut 27 players so there is clearly still much work to be done.

There are likely to be to some surprises on the final 53 but one potential surprise is seeming more and more possible as the team could decide to go light at a crucial position.

With a quality starter and a quality backup, the Eagles could very easily, and perhaps wisely, roll into the regular season with just two quarterbacks.

The Philadelphia Eagles could keep just Jalen Hurts and Gardner Minshew.

Simply put, there just isn’t much value in retaining three quarterbacks on the 53, at least when considering the candidates in Philadelphia. Starter Jalen Hurts is an obvious lock as is Gardner Minshew (barring a trade). After that, the conversation turns to Reid Sinnett and undrafted rookie Carson Strong.

Despite entering the preseason as a relative unknown, Reid Sinnett became familiar to fans early and often as the Philadelphia Eagles put him in a featured role during the preseason. The third-year player out of San Diego led all Eagles quarterbacks in passing attempts with 48 in preseason action.

While the argument could be made that it points to Sinnett as QB3, more likely, he was simply an “innings eater” of sorts for Philadelphia. Jalen Hurts played just one series during the entire preseason and for obvious reasons. Why risk injury for you starting quarterback in meaningless games?

Gardner Minshew meanwhile saw a fair amount of action as they have to make sure he’s ready to could should Hurts go down or, should the Eagles receive a trade offer too good to pass up.

While he showed flashes here and there, Reid Sinnett simply didn’t do enough to warrant a spot on the 53. Certainly he can continue to develop, but that is not enough reason to take a spot away from a more deserving player.

Now for Carson Strong and why he saw an extraordinary small amount of action.

The Philadelphia Eagles hardly played Strong during the preseason. The undrafted quarterback out of Nevada only threw four passes during the entire preseason. Why would they do this? The team signed him to $320,000 guaranteed just a few months ago. If they felt he wasn’t good enough, why not give him extra preseason reps to exercise his demons?

It’s entirely possible that the team remains high on Strong’s potential but that they would prefer to keep the extra spot on the 53 for perhaps a sixth receiver or some added depth for the secondary. Moreover, the team wants to avoid another organization stealing the young QB from their practice squad.

If Strong has so few reps, in both practice and in-game, how could a team responsibly sign him away from Philadelphia? By doing this, the Eagles may have found a way to keep Carson Strong in Philadelphia without placing him on the 53. Does this come across as some conspiracy theory nonsense? Absolutely, but it remains the most likely reason for the oddness of the Carson Strong situation, and a shrewd one at that.

So if Strong can be effectively housed on the practice squad and if Sinnett would simply not be a contributor this season, what sense is there in keeping a third quarterback?

The answer is clear and obvious; none.