The Eagles on Monday are going to sign former third-round quarterback Cody Kessler, a league source confirmed to NBC Sports Philadelphia.
NFL Network first reported the move.
Kessler, 26, will join a suddenly crowded quarterback room with Carson Wentz, Nate Sudfeld, Clayton Thorson and Luis Perez.
Wentz is obviously the starter and Sudfeld is his backup, but perhaps Kessler will push Sudfeld and fight for a roster spot. Although, the Eagles did use a fifth-round pick on Thorson out of Northwestern and before that signed Perez from the AAF.
Unless Perez is released, the Eagles will have five quarterbacks on their 90-man roster when OTAs begin on May 21.
During the offseason, the Eagles said they weren’t going to just hand Sudfeld the backup quarterback job, so perhaps Kessler will battle him for it. While the Eagles have been high on Sudfeld, Kessler has considerably more NFL experience. But Sudfeld will also make around $3 million this season after the Eagles used a second-round RFA tender on him. Still, having competition at the QB spots after Wentz isn’t a bad thing.
On Friday, Doug Pederson wouldn’t say whether or not Wentz will be on the field for OTAs later this month. Wentz has been healing from a stress fracture in his back. But it seems unlikely this signing has anything to do with that. It seems this is a depth signing to create some added competition for Sudfeld and Thorson in the spring and summer.
NFL
Kessler was taken by the Browns in the third round of the 2016 draft out of USC. That was the same year Jared Goff went No. 1 and Wentz followed to the Eagles at No. 2. Kessler spent just two years with the Browns before he was traded to the Jaguars, where he spent the 2018 season.
In three NFL seasons, Kessler has played in 17 games with 12 starts. He has a 2-10 record, completing 64.2 percent of his passes for 2,215 yards, 8 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. His career passer rating is 83.7. To put Kessler’s 17 games in perspective, Sudfeld has played in just three career NFL games.
In his eight starts as a rookie in Cleveland, Kessler went 0-8. He was 2-2 last year with the Jaguars, but was released just a few days ago.
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