Eagles Agree on Deal with Marcus Mariota After Losing Gardner Minshew

The Eagles and their fans wanted the Oregon QB and Heisman Trophy winner coming into the 2015 draft, but a deal never happened; now it has

Once upon a time, Marcus Mariota was all anyone in Philadelphia could talk about.

He was the hotshot, Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from the University of Oregon in 2015, and Chip Kelly wanted him. Bad.

There were reports that the Eagles wanted to send Fletcher Cox and a boatload of draft picks to Tennessee to acquire the second overall pick in that year’s draft.

Nothing materialized, but now, eight years later it’s happening.

The Eagles and Mariota agreed on a one-year deal that can be worth up to $8 million, per Adam Schefter. The agreement came in the early hours of Friday morning and not long after Gardner Minshew left for the Indianapolis Colts.

The Eagles have to make sure they have an experienced, capable backup for starter Jalen Hurts since Hurts has missed four games the past two seasons due to injury. He missed two games in 2021 and two games last year.

Minshew fit that bill, though he went 1-3 in those games Hurts missed. He didn't play badly, though, and his teammates rallied behind him.

Mariota also fits that bill, though his career never quite lived up to his draft position, and this will be his fourth team since entering the league.

He spent five years with the Titans but went just 29-32. Not all of that was his fault, though he led the Titans to the playoffs in 2018. 

The Titans picked up the option year in his contract, but he eventually got benched midway through Tennessee’s surprising run to the AFC Championship Game in 2019 in favor of Ryan Tannehill.

Mariota was on the move the following season, heading to the Las Vegas Raiders on a two-year, $17.6M contract. He spent most of those two seasons on injured reserve and as a backup, playing just 11 games without any starts.

Last year, he was with the Atlanta Falcons and went 5-8 in 13 starts before being benched for rookie Desmond Ridder.

In his eight seasons, Mariota is 34-40 with 92 touchdowns and 54 interceptions.

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Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglestoday.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.