Gardner Minshew traded to Eagles after rumor-filled offseason

It’s official, the Jacksonville Jaguars have traded quarterback Gardner Minshew to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Earlier this year, teams called the Jacksonville Jaguars to inquire about quarterback Gardner Minshew. Not long ago, it was reported the Philadelphia Eagles were one of those teams but a trade never materialized. It looks like their interest never faded as they have officially acquired the 2019 sixth-round pick.

The Jags have already announced the trade. They will get a sixth-round pick that can turn into five if Minshew plays in 50 percent of the plays in three games in 2021, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. With Trevor Lawrence entrenched as the Jaguars’ starting quarterback, it made sense to move on from Minshew.

Back in 2019, The Washington State product completed 285 of 470 passes for 3,271 yards with 21 touchdowns and six interceptions. For a moment, it looked like he could be the answer to the Jaguars’ quarterback woes but he came crashing down in 2020 and couldn’t recreate the success he enjoyed in his rookie campaign.

The Jacksonville Jaguars telegraphed they wanted to trade Gardner Minshew.

When the report about teams calling the Jaguars to ask about Minshew arose, head coach Urban Meyer said the team wasn’t interested in trading him at the moment. Then again, they signed C.J. Beathard in free agency, so the case could be made that they had a contingency plan in case they traded Minshew.

Throughout training camp, Lawrence and Minshew split first-team reps. Meyer said there was a quarterback competition in place but you could argue that the Jaguars were just trying to increase the stock of Minshew. If that was their strategy, it didn’t work, as they ended up getting just a late-round pick.

With Minshew out of the building, Beathard is now the Jaguars’ primary backup quarterback. In two preseason games, the 2017 third-round pick has completed 22 of 30 passes for 223 yards and three touchdowns. Meanwhile, Minshew was 17-of-19 for 196 yards and two interceptions in the same span.

What’s next for Gardner Minshew?

Gardner Minshew said he wanted to compete for a starting job. This wasn’t going to be possible in Jacksonville. Trevor Lawrence was always going to be the starter, and even if the training camp competition was legit, the Clemson product was the better quarterback.

Minshew will now get a fresh start in Philadelphia. Jalen Hurts is currently the starting quarterback but if he struggles, the Eagles may want to roll the dice on the former Cougar. After all, he’s only 25 and may not have reached his ceiling yet. His tenure in Duval may not have ended the way he will get at last that chance to show what he can do.