News of Eagles offseason talks with Panthers means QB shakeup is likely

Often, you’ve heard that the most popular player on any NFL team is its backup quarterback. Now, that isn’t true in cities like Green Bay, Wisconsin or Tampa, Florida, but you get the theory. The Philadelphia Eagles, since Jalen Hurts stood on the sideline and watched Gardner Minshew light up the New York Jets, have seen their QB depth chart talked about rather frequently.

There is no controversy. There is no question. Hurts is the starter. We all understand that. We get it, but recently, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport added a little fuel to the fire.

The Eagles’ offseason discussions with Carolina hint that more are to follow.

Perhaps it’s the bye week that did it. There was no opponent to battle on Sunday, and thus, no discussions about possible wins and losses. Maybe it’s the fact that we are sometimes slaves to what we have just seen. Minshew did look pretty good!

Whatever the case, if you chose to do something with your week other than watch football or talk about whether or not it’s ever acceptable to cheer for the Dallas Cowboys for any reason (it isn’t), you may have missed Rapoport’s offering on trade interest Philadelphia has gotten and will continue to garner for Gardner Minshew. Rapoport states that sources have told him the Carolina Panthers, this past offseason, spoke with the Eagles about possible asking prices if a trade were to occur.

According to said report, neither side dug into this too deeply. Still, following the struggles of both Sam Darnold and Cam Newton, the latter of which returned to the team that drafted him on November 11th (one day before the Panthers put Darnold on their injured reserve), one can’t rule out the possibility of Carolina making changes to their QB room next offseason.

It also stands to reason that other teams seeking a quarterback will also join the discussion and show interest. Philadelphia traded a sixth-rounder to acquire Gardner this past August. With him being signed through 2022, if they were to move him and attain, say, a mid-rounder in the coming selection meeting to move him somewhere else (or a pick and a player), it would be hard to argue that his stay in the City of Brotherly Love, however brief, would have to be seen as a win.

Keep an eye on this one. This flower is only going to take root and grow as we near the end of the season.