Well, that escalated quickly. Just days after we heard reports that Doug Pederson was in the Eagles’ plans for 2021, the team parted ways with the man who delivered the franchise’s first title.
The last we saw of Pederson, he was removing Jalen Hurts from a still-winnable game in favor of Nate Sudfeld.
That move ensured that the Eagles would lose to Washington, allowing The Football Team to win the NFC East. But it also secured for Philadelphia the No. 6 overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. A win would have dropped them to 9th. This was widely seen as Pederson “tanking” by using a deep reserve in a meaningless game to improve his team’s future.
Only now he’s not part of that future. The details of how things crumbled so quickly in Philadelphia — he won that title just three seasons ago — are still leaking out.
Regardless of how you feel about Pederson as a coach — I thought he was pretty good! — the timing is odd. Usually, these things are decided on the Monday following the last regular-season game. The Eagles waited a week and will now have some catching up to do with other teams in need of a coach already carrying out interviews with candidates.
It may not matter anyway. If they’re smart, the hottest coaching candidates will stay away from this job. We’ve spent a lot of time over the past few weeks debating which job opening was the best, but now there’s no debate of which one is the worst. It’s Philadelphia and I’m not sure it’s even close. Let’s list all the reasons why…
