Well this is an unusual arrangement we didn’t see coming. The Eagles are signing veteran quarterback Josh McCown to their practice squad, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
Thanks to a new COVID-19 exception veterans will be able to serve on practice squads, making this possible. As Schefter notes, he’ll easily be the oldest practice squad player in NFL history. Making the situation even more unique, McCown won’t even be reporting to the team. Instead McCown will continue to live in Texas, earn a $12K weekly salary, and serve as Philly’s emergency quarterback remotely.
McCown’s lovable journeyman career has taken him all over the football world, so it feels right for him to blaze this unheard of trail. We had heard back in January the Eagles were talking about adding him to the coaching staff, and this is the next best thing.
After originally announcing his retirement in June of last year, he signed with Philly last August after they had a couple of injuries. After serving as Carson Wentz‘s backup and not starting a game he was suddenly thrown into the spotlight when Wentz went down in the Eagles’ first round playoff game against Seattle.
McCown came into the game cold off the bench and nearly led them to a miracle victory, tearing his hamstring in the process and playing through the injury.
The Eagles have Nate Sudfeld and Jalen Hurts behind Wentz now, but in these uncertain times it can’t hurt to have too much insurance. McCown has turned into a fan favorite over the course of his career that started in 2002 with the Cardinals, and this is a nice feather in his cap.
Here is Philly’s full practice squad:
- DB Grayland Arnold
- WR Deontay Burnett
- WR Travis Fulgham
- RB Elijah Holyfield
- C Luke Juriga
- DE Matt Leo*
- QB Josh McCown
- C Sua Opeta
- DE Joe Ostman
- DB Elijah Riley
- T Prince Tega Wanogho
- RB Michael Warren
- DT Raequan Williams
- DB Trevor Williams
- TE Caleb Wilson
* = international player
um what
Now that’s mastering the new normal of working from home .. !!
Who is next, Ron Jaworski?
Lmao
Hey wait a second here. Your at home in Jacksonville Texas and you remotely complete a pass to Philadelphia (that’s a 2,516,800 yard completion btw) but you only get paid 12K? Mahomes is getting paid about $1M per week and his longest completion isn’t even close to that.
WTF he’s 41 and done
Would make more sense to hire him as a coach and use that PS slot to groom a player with potential.
Maybe I’m not keeping up with McCown news, but I thought he was an assistant coach for his sons’ high school football team in North Carolina. I’m not sure if all states have cancelled HS fall sports. I’m guessing he moved his family to Texas since then, but I believe the reason he signed with the Eagles in the first place was to be on the East Coast to stay in flight range for his personal plane so he could fly to his sons’ games in time.
Until I heard that Josh McCown has a private plane, I didn’t think athletes were overpaid.
This is why the hurts draft was so important. I love wentz, but he is injury prone and in today’s nfl, everything revolves around the QB.
This is actually a brilliant move by the Eagles.
If Covid cripples their locker room, they will still be able to field a serviceable QB who will know the playbook.
Yes because if they get down to the fourth QB on their depth chart signing a fill-in would be impossible while their championship hopes are very much alive… :/
The job of Eagles management is to put the team in the best possible position to win in any and all circumstances, not to be lazy, self pitying and defeatist.
Having a vet like McCown who knows the playbook would give them a significantly better chance to win than grabbing a schmuck off the street.
He’s 2000 miles away and will be the schmuck off the street in case of such emergency. Nothing changes between now and then, that PS slot should’ve been used elsewhere.
Smart move. Separated physically from the team in case of a COVID locker room outbreak and at $12k per week is a very inexpensive insurance policy. My only question is how many players would be left to field a team for a game that most likely would be canceled by the NFL under its COVID guidelines?