Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman is still explaining the thought process for why the Eagles decided to select Jalen Hurts in the second round of the NFL Draft, especially when the team already has a franchise quarterback in Carson Wentz.
The decision itself has nothing to do with Wentz's status as the Eagles' starting quarterback. Roseman made it clear Wentz is QB1 for the Eagles in 2020 and beyond. Now, Philly has an excellent insurance policy with Hurts.
With the expanded NFL regular season on the horizon, the Eagles clearly are getting ahead of the game in terms of knowing the importance of the backup quarterback position. Especially given the injury history of Wentz, who has experienced two season-ending injuries in the regular season and has never started and finished 17 games in a season (we're counting the head injury in the NFC wild-card loss to the Seahawks).
"To win a Super Bowl championship, you got to play 19 games. In the future that will be 20, minimum," Roseman said on the Marks and Reese Show on SportsRadio 94 WIP Monday. "So you want to make sure you have depth. We're trying to build the best team we possibly can; 53 guys and have as much quality players as we possibly can at every position."
The expanded season will take its toll on player safety. The maximum amount of games a team will play in a regular season and playoff will be 21 starting in 2021, the most in league history. With the quarterback position the most important in football, the Eagles aren't taking any chances -- especially with Wentz missing eight regular season games over the past three seasons (he did play the full regular season in 2019).
This philosophy doesn't apply just to Wentz, but every position on the Eagles. For Roseman, it's important to have a player step in and immediately be able to contribute.
Under the new collective bargaining agreement, rosters will be expanded on game day from 46 to 48 players (one of those players must be an offensive lineman) and game week roster sizes will expand from 53 to 55 as teams can promote two players to the practice squad for the week and send them back down.
Having the expanded roster allows the Eagles to keep all three quarterbacks active, allowing them to use Hurts in a variety of ways. Again, Wentz is the franchise quarterback --- but the Eagles want to have all grounds covered.
"This is one of the great college football players of the last four years. He's one of the greatest character guys in the draft. This is one of the great leaders in this draft. This is an asset to any football team," Roseman said. "He's a good football player and he's an asset to our organization."
