The Philadelphia Eagles have their backup quarterback in the fold after the team signed Nate Sudfeld to his restricted free agent tender. The question now from many will be in regards to whether or not Sudfeld can take the reigns and lead a Super Bowl contender if Carson Wentz is forced to miss any amount of time.
Even as a backup quarterback, Sudfeld will at times face immense pressure replacing Nick Foles, a former Super Bowl MVP, and the Jacksonville Jaguars’ new franchise signal-caller, behind the richest guaranteed contract in NFL history, Carson Wentz.
Bleacher Report broke down the riskiest offseason moves for all 32 NFL teams, and Sudfeld’s ascension and the lack of a veteran backup were deemed the most obvious risk.
Given Carson Wentz’s injury history—he finished each of the last two seasons on the sidelines—the Philadelphia Eagles would have been wise to keep a seasoned veteran second on the depth chart. Keeping Foles around wasn’t financially feasible, but the Eagles could have looked to free-agent options such as Tyrod Taylor or Ryan Fitzpatrick.
They didn’t and instead chose to roll with Nate Sudfeld, Clayton Thorson and Cody Kessler. Kessler has at least started 12 NFL games, but calling him seasoned would be a major stretch.
The Eagles then doubled down on their gamble by giving Wentz a new four-year, $128 million contract extension.
Ideally, Wentz will stay healthy over the course of his contract, and the backup role will be a complete afterthought. However, this is still a sizeable risk for a franchise firmly in the middle of a championship window.
Sudfeld is a talented signal-caller who completed 20 of 25 passes for 156 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions in relief work for Nick Foles over the past two seasons. Last preseason, the 6-foot-6, 227-pound Sudfeld completed 43-of-74 passes (58.1%) for 524 yards, five touchdowns, and three interceptions.
The body of work for Sudfeld is there via preseason performances, and given Carson Wentz’s injury history, Sudfeld will need to be ready for regular-season action as well.
