WTF is Howie Roseman doing in Philly?

In the “WTF” moment of the weekend, the Philadelphia Eagles traded a conditional sixth-round draft pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars  for quarterback Gardner Minshew. Yes, you read that correctly. The Eagles now have three quarterbacks on the roster, including starter Jalen Hurts and former Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco.

Hurts can’t be happy about this move. As QB Number one, the team trading for another young QB doesn’t exactly put their confidence in Hurts on full display. That isn’t to say Minshew is coming in to challenge Hurts for the starting job, but it certainly isn’t a good look for the Eagles.

The Eagles moved on from Carson Wentz after drafting Hurts in the second round of the 2020 draft. Wentz was not a fan of that move, which is understandable. A year later, the Eagles jump up and pull the same type of move again. Keep your QB looking over his shoulder in fear of the next guy up. Yep, that’s the way you build a winning culture.

We’re only a few years removed from the Eagles standing on top of the NFL mountain after winning Super Bowl LII against the New England Patriots. This franchise has fallen back down the mountain quicker than the coin flip of that Super Bowl.

Why make this move now?

General Manager Howie Roseman is building himself quite the impressive resume of what can only be described as “questionable decisions.” There was the previously mentioned bungling of the Hurts-Wentz situation. After firing Doug Pederson, Roseman signed first-time head coach Nick Sirianni when it was clear he wasn’t the best (Eric Bieniemy anyone?) or most-experienced person for the job. And now Roseman has outdone himself again with this trade for Minshew.

Giving up a conditional late-round draft pick isn’t the worst thing in the world, but still a debatable move on Roseman’s part. For a man who is supposed to be restoring the Eagles to where they stood just a few years ago as Super Bowl champions, it sure feels like Roseman is continuing to take this team in the opposite direction.

Then there’s the veteran in this Philly QB room, Joe Flacco. Is this it for Flacco? With two young QB’s on the depth chart, the Eagles might want to keep that veteran voice around to help guide and teach these young guys what it means to be a starter in the NFL. But knowing how Roseman has handled the decision-making in Philly over the last year or so, it’s highly probable Roseman will goof this up as well and let Flacco go on about his business outside of the Eagles organization.