Right after the Eagles drafted Jalen Hurts, Howie Roseman said, “For better or worse, we are quarterback developers. We want to be a quarterback factory. We have the right people in place to do that. No team in the National Football League has benefitted more from developing quarterbacks than the Philadelphia Eagles.”
That quote, especially the QB Factory part, stuck with everyone. Considering we just signed Carson Wentz to a huge contract extension, drafting a big name like Jalen Hurts in the second round seemed crazy at the time. I justified it because of the quote. Assuming Hurts looked good in a few starts, he could be a cheap backup for a few years before the Eagles could flip him for at least a first-round pick and probably more. Great investment! Obviously, no one explained this to Jalen who took the job, mentally destroyed Carson with absolutely no effort, and won the Super Bowl. In theory though, this was a pretty good idea. We had seen it work before.
AJ Feeley
Shockingly, Kevin Kolb was not the first time the Eagles tricked the league into giving them something for a QB nothing. Back in 2004, the Miami Dolphins traded a 2nd round pick for 3rd string QB AJ Feeley. Feeley did not play a single snap in 2003. In 2002 though, he came in due to injuries to Donovan McNabb and Koy Detmer to start the final 5 games of the season. He went 4-1 with very pedestrian but winning numbers. I can’t begin to tell you how much we thought that season was screwed when McNabb went down and then completely doomed when Detmer went down. It was heroic work by Feeley that was not forgotten by the Dolphins. I still remember the Breaking News on the ESPN ticker about the trade. I couldn’t believe it.
Kevin Kolb
Now we get to Kevin Kolb. Kolb was taken in the 2nd round of the 2007 Draft out of Houston. The Eagles still had Donovan McNabb at the time, but McNabb missed games the previous season and had just turned 30. Kolb saw minimal action those first two years, but things started to get testy with McNabb when the starter was benched at halftime of a game against the Ravens. Things escalated quickly in year 3. Kolb replaced an injured McNabb halfway through the season for 2 games and managed 300+ yards passing in each of them (this had never been done before and made the rounds in all the news). McNabb came back, but Kolb had generated so much hype in those 2 games that everyone knew a change was coming.
That offseason, 3 things happened in the QB room. First, Donovan McNabb was traded to Washington for a 2nd and 4th round pick. Second, Kevin Kolb was named the starting QB and signed a 1-year extension with the team.1 Third, Michael Vick, who had signed just before the previous season, was named the back up.
Finally out of McNabb’s shadow it was Kolb’s time to shine! It last 10 attempts before a concussion knocked him out of the game. Vick took the job and never looked back. Kolb was able to get a few more starts when Vick went down with a chest injury, but the Kevin Kolb era ended a mere 24 yards after it began. The Eagles traded him for a 2nd round pick (later traded again and ultimately ending up as Vinny Curry and Brandon Boykin) and much needed CB, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. He quickly signed a 5/$63m contract with the Cardinals (good for him).
There was one big secret to the trade though. My friend Joe called me and we both yelled with joy, “Kevin Kolb stinks!” I don’t know how Arizona couldn’t see it, but Kolb just wasn’t a very good QB. Perhaps the biggest trick the Eagles ever pulled was convincing everyone that Kevin Kolb was good.
Sam Bradford
After Carson Wentz was drafted and hit camp, it became immediately clear that Sam Bradford’s time in Philadelphia was done. A one year waiting period quickly evaporated as Wentz shined. Who would want Bradford though? Even before the Eagles traded for him, anyone with half a brain knew that Bradford was not a competitive starting QB in the league. Just to show how valuable ANY QB is in this league, Howie Roseman was able to get a 1st round and a 4th round pick from the Vikings for him after their starting QB Teddy Bridgewater was lost for the season. Robbery.2
Carson Wentz
This one is still funny to me. In the 2021 offseason, the Wentz/Eagles relationship was completely broken and he was being openly marketed around the league. Colts GM Chris Ballard went out of his way to say that he wouldn’t make a bad deal for Wentz despite everyone knowing they needed a QB. Well, he did. Despite absolutely no leverage, on March 17, 2021, the Eagles sent Wentz to the Colts for a 3rd round pick and a future 1st. Wentz washed out of Indy after 1 year.
The Future
That’s 4 times I can remember the Eagles sending a clear backup to another team for at least a 2nd round pick (sorry Kenny Pickett), not including Donovan McNabb. Right now, Tanner McKee is in the pole position to be next. The 3rd year QB is now the backup to Jalen Hurts after going 30 for 45 with 4 TDs and 0 picks last season as the 3rd stringer. He is one or two impressive appearances away from being the next success story. I don’t think the Eagles would give the former 6th rounder up for anything less than two 2nds right now. He is as good as gone this offseason because we already have his replacement on the roster. Kyle McCord, the 6th round pick this past season will sit in the 3rd string queue before stepping up as the latest to be churned out by the QB Factory.
- His agent not parlaying this into a massive deal is malpractice. ↩︎
- The balls on Howie to ask for the 4th round pick too is incredible. Like Sonny Weaver asking for a kick returner ↩︎
Philly Front Office 
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