Mariota Signs With Eagles As Minshew Leaves For Colts

The Eagles agreed to terms with Quarterback Marcus Mariota, formerly with the Atlanta Falcons, to be the backup quarterback to Jalen Hurts.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported earlier this morning that the deal was a one year contract worth up to $8 million.

The news comes as another Eagles free agent left the team. Former Eagles Quarterback Gardner Minshew, who was the backup to Jalen Hurts last season, played in two meaningful games while Hurts was dealing with injury. His performance in those games was mediocre; he had a 58.3% completion rate, completing 42 of his 72 passes in those games for a total of 629 yards with 3 touchdowns. He averaged 8.73 yards per attempt. He also had three interceptions in those two games and was sacked six times, prompting fans to indicate how much Hurts was needed back as starting quarterback.

Minshew now heads to Indianapolis, where he will play under the leadership of Head Coach Shane Steichen, former offensive coordinator for the Eagles during Minshew’s tenure here.

Mariota was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the 2015 NFL Draft with the second overall pick. At the time, there was speculation that the Eagles were trying to trade for Mariota. Former Head Coach Chip Kelly had coached Mariota while the two were at the University of Oregon during the 2012 NCAA season. Kelly, who had taken over general manager responsibilities from Howie Roseman that season, traded away the future Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles for Sam Bradford, fueling speculation that Bradford would be used as leverage to do a deal with the Titans. No deal panned out, and the Eagles would fall to 7-9 in the 2015 NFL Season. Kelly was fired with one game left in the season.

Mariota had two winning seasons with the Titans, who picked up his fifth year option, before he was released in 2019. He spent the next two seasons with the Raiders, one on injured reserve and another backing up Derek Carr, before signing a deal with the Atlanta Falcons. Mariota went 184 for 300 in the 2022 season with Atlanta, throwing for 2,219 yards with 15 touchdowns and 9 interceptions on the season. The Falcons released him earlier this year.

Now, the deal eight years in the making is done.