By Tucker Bagley, Sports Talk Philly staff writer
With Saturday's trade of Sam Bradford and the subsequent releasing of McLeod Bethel-Thompson, the Philadelphia Eagles currently just have two quarterbacks on their roster. Now, a lot of NFL teams currently carry just two quarterbacks on their roster and with David Watford on the practice squad, a former QB turned wide receiver, the Eagles have a guy who can run the scout team offense.
However, most of the teams rolling with just two QBs on their active roster have an established veteran at the helm of their offense, not a rookie who has thrown just 24 preseason passes in his NFL career.
With that in mind, it is completely plausible that Doug Pederson's squad will add another quarterback at some point in the season, whether it is on the practice squad or the 53-man roster. Here are a few options the team could look to add in case of an injury to Carson Wentz or Chase Daniel.
Kevin Hogan – The Stanford product was released by the Kansas City Chiefs and signed to the Cleveland Browns practice squad, but he is still an intriguing option as a developmental third quarterback. Hogan was a fifth-round pick by the Chiefs this year, and before the Eagles moved up to draft Wentz, they were widely rumored to be interested in the diminutive signal-caller. Hogan is a lot like Daniel, has a lot of experience in the west coast offense and could be a solid fit as a backup down the line in Pederson's offense.
Aaron Murray – Murray is currently on the Bears practice squad, but he has some experience playing for Pederson during his first two years in the league with Kansas City. Murray is another quarterback who lacks the physical traits to be a full-time starter in the NFL, but he is smart. As an emergency option, the team could do a lot worse than the former Georgia Bulldog. Plus, Pederson has shown loyalty to the guys who have played with him previously, so Murray has that going for him, which is nice.
McLeod Bethel-Thompson – The obvious choice, it seems like Bethel-Thompson will haunt the NovaCare Complex for years to come, resurfacing every year around OTAs. He was just released by the team this weekend, but was not picked up by any of the other 31 teams. His practice squad eligibility has run out, but his familiarity with the Eagles offense could help him if the team just needs him in a pinch for a couple weeks while Wentz or Daniel rehabs an injury. Like most of these guys, the team wouldn't be well-off if they had to turn to Bethel-Thompson as their starter, but he couldn't be much worse than Daniel, right?
Matt Flynn – Moving toward the veteran side of the free-agent spectrum, Flynn could be a guy who the Eagles look at if one of their QBs is lost for a longer period of time. I doubt Flynn would sign a minimum value contract to be the Eagles emergency guy, so the opportunity of him playing must be pretty real in order to pique his interest. The veteran has turned into quite the journeyman over the past few years, but as the quarterback market becomes bare over the course of the season, he could be one of the few remaining guys who has starting experience in the league.
Michael Vick - Okay, not really much of an option, but wouldn't this be fun? Vick played a few games for the Steelers last year before being benched in favor of Landry Jones, but he still has shown flashes of the gamebreaker he was earlier in his career. Pederson and Vick worked together during their time in Philadelphia so the familiarity if the team is looking to reunite with one of their most exciting players in recent history. Once again, the chances of this happening are almost nonexistent, but if the Eagles are forced to reach for a third quarterback in order to help their team on Sunday, wouldn't Vick be a lot more exciting than some of the other options?