For much of the pre-draft process, Nevada quarterback Carson Strong‘s name was often mentioned among the top players at the position. At the end of the draft, though, Strong’s name was still on the board and he found himself fielding calls as an undrafted free agent, deciding to sign with Philadelphia for a guaranteed amount of $320,000, the highest amount to any undrafted free agent in 2022.
While many thought the impressive signing bonus essentially guaranteed that Strong would slot in on the depth chart just behind top-two quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Gardner Minshew, the competition for the No. 3 quarterback seems to gotten away from Strong. An underwhelming offseason has led Strong to fall to fourth on the depth chart behind a late-season waiver claim from last year, according to Bo Wulf of The Athletic.
Reid Sinnett was claimed off waivers in late-October by the Eagles last season. He’s spent time on the practice squads for both the Buccaneers and Dolphins and has had an impressive offseason with the Eagles. Wulf even posits that, if Sinnett can have a strong enough preseason, Philadelphia may want to reconsider hearing some trade offers for Minshew, who has struggled throughout camp in the final year of his rookie contract.
Here are a few more rumors from around the NFC West, starting with another rumor from the City of Brotherly Love:
- For much of the offseason, the back-loaded nature of Isaac Seumalo‘s contract led those in league circles to consider him a prime candidate to be cut for cap space. It was expected that Philadelphia would have Jack Driscoll and Cam Jurgens compete with Seumalo for the starting right guard job, allowing one of them to take the reins and make it easier to part ways with Seumalo. But, according to Wulf, there is no competition for the position. Despite the troubles many expected from his contract, Seumalo has the starting spot locked down while Driscoll and Jurgens haven’t taken a single rep at right guard this preseason.
- Giants No. 2 cornerback Aaron Robinson got picked on quite a bit during the team’s preseason win over the Patriots this week. The second-year cornerback opposite Adoree’ Jackson is likely to be challenged pretty consistently throughout the season, and Robinson’s struggles seemed to emphasize the glaring lack of depth at cornerback in New York. This could lead the Giants to be on the lookout for an outside cornerback to add to the room, according to Dan Duggan of The Athletic. This outside help could come in the form of a current free agent or a veteran cornerback that finds himself on the market as roster cuts continue throughout the league.
- After running with the second- and third-team for most of the offseason, wide receiver Darius Slayton ran with the Giants’ starters in the team’s preseason game this week and was featured exclusively. After leading the team in receiving in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, Slayton emerged as a trade candidate at the beginning of the offseason and, more recently, found himself in danger of getting waived. Despite being feature prominently on Thursday, it still seems that Slayton is not long for New York. In fact, Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post believes that playing Slayton as a starter this week was intended to display him to the trade market in an effort to pump up his value as a trade asset. Look for more Slayton targets throughout the remainder of the preseason if this proves true.
Sinnett is…just a dude. That said, if someone is offering something as high as a 3rd or better for the Stache, I’m moving him in a heartbeat. This season is about Hurts. Minshew or Sinnett aren’t taking this team to a Super Bowl, so I could care less if there is no real strong backup behind Hurts in the event of an injury.
Minshew has the swagger and confidence though that could provide that spark if Hurts goes down late season. I agree, if Hurts goes down early season it’s a wrap, but end of year or even if he misses a game or two, Minshew could be a season saver.
Note: I’m not saying Minshew is great. Just saying he’s a high end back up that can win you a game or two
Who thought Cam Jurgens was going to be playing right guard? The guy is so obviously a center. There was no way he was going to beat out Seumalo at RG. They never wanted him there in the first place. He is replacing Kelce. That’s it.
Because Kelce is still on the team?
Can never have too many good QB’s on the team. I don’t think the Birds would be looking to move Minshew especially with Hurts running the ball a lot.
Jurgen’s in Kelce’s backup this year, most likely a starter next year if Kielce retires