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The Philadelphia Eagles recently made a series of moves by trading for former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Howell and releasing quarterback Kyle McCord. The moves were made in an effort to shore up the depth chart behind quarterback Jalen Hurts, who won the Super Bowl MVP last season in guiding the Eagles to the championship.
Recently, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman broke down what went into the decision to trade for Howell and release McCord.
“We’re trying to balance the development of our young players while trying to defend our title,” said Roseman, per Ashlyn Sullivan of NBC Sports Philadelphia on X, formerly Twitter.
Roseman also described Howell as being a player “who has always been on our radar,” per Sullivan.
Some wondered if a recent injury to fellow Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee may have played a role in Philadelphia’s decision to trade for Howell. However, Roseman confirmed that this was not the case.
“Howie Roseman says the Eagles would have traded for Sam Howell even without the injury to Tanner McKee’s thumb,” reported Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia on X.
As Roseman mentioned, the only time fans of the Philadelphia Eagles will hope to see Sam Howell out on the field this year is when the team is blowing out an opponent by so many points that Hurts’ services are no longer needed, or once the team has locked up their playoff seeding and can rest their starting lineup.
Still, it’s an underrated luxury in the NFL to have a serviceable backup quarterback who can make things happen and run the offense in case something were to happen to Hurts.
Howie Roseman and company got a good look at Sam Howell when he was the starting quarterback for the NFC East rival Washington Commanders two years ago, proving himself to be a quarterback who could make things happen, even as he struggled with some major interception problems.
In any case, the Eagles are slated to begin their Super Bowl title defense with a home game against the Dallas Cowboys on September 4 in prime time.
The post The ‘balance’ that led Eagles GM Howie Roseman to trade for Sam Howell, cut Kyle McCord appeared first on ClutchPoints.
