Eagles backup quarterback Gardner Minshew is taking the RV on a road trip, following Shane Steichen out to Indianapolis.
Jalen Hurts’ former backup is signing a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Colts, according to an NFL source.
Minshew got less money than other backup options like Washington’s Jacoby Brissett ($8 million), Atlanta’s Taylor Heinicke ($7 million), New Orleans’ Jameis Winston ($4 million), and Miami’s Mike White ($4 million) so the Eagles could have likely swung that number for Minshew from a financial perspective but what Indianapolis had that Philadelphia couldn’t match was the opportunity uncertainty provides.
Jalen Hurts is entrenched as the starter with the Eagles while the Colts have yet to find their starter and it’s conceivable that Minshew could start the 2023 season as a bridge starter for a first-round rookie with Indy.
In his two seasons with Philadelphia after being acquired from Jacksonville in August of 2021 for a conditional sixth-round pick, Minshew started four games and saw mop-up duty in four others. He played very well at the New York Jets in 2021, completing 20-of-25 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns in an impressive win.
Minshew’s second start in 2021 was the meaningless Week 18 loss to Dallas in which the Eagles rested most of their key starters in advance of the playoffs.
This past season, Minshew was 0-2 as the starter when Jalen Hurts was down with his SC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder but Minshew played very well in a shootout loss at Dallas before regressing in an ugly setback to New Orleans.
The only QB on the offseason roster for Philadelphia besides Hurts is third-year pro Ian Book, a 2021 fourth-round pick by New Orleans who was claimed off waivers in August of last year.
Book, a former Notre Dame star, was given the seal of approval by now-Alabama offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, who is very close with Eagles coach Nick Sirianni.
