Chauncey GardnerJohnson isn’t the only member of the Saints leaving the Big Easy to join the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Birds are also adding former New Orleans quarterback Ian Book to their roster. He was placed on waivers (19th overall) after the Saints traded their 2021 fourthround pick on Tuesday.
The corresponding move to clear a spot for Book is currently unclear; note that it cannot involve the Eagles placing a player on injured reserve with eligibility to return this season. Stay tuned on this front.
While some might wonder if the Eagles really need to keep three quarterbacks on their 53man roster, it should come as no surprise that The QB Factory added another passer to the team. They apparently wanted to keep Reid Sinnett behind Jalen Hurts and Gardner Minshew. That is, until Sinnett really bombed in preseason games. Howie Roseman historically likes to keep three quarterbacks.
Book, 24, played college football at Notre Dame. He finished as the Fighting Irish’s alltime winningest quarterback with a 305 starting record. Book completed 63.8% of his attempts for 7.8 yards per attempt, 72 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.
The Saints were forced to use Book for one start last season after suffering multiple quarterback injuries. He completed 12 of 20 attempts (60%) in that game for 135 yards (6.8 yards per attempt), zero touchdowns, two interceptions and a 40.6 passer rating in a 203 loss to Miami Dolphins.
Book doesn’t appear to be the most intriguing development option, but the Birds clearly see some value in his potential. With Minshew set to be a free agent after this season, he could theoretically move up to the QB2 spot next year. But Book has a lot to prove before anyone can feel confident he’s playing meaningful snaps.
Here you have it book PreBook scouting report via NFL.com:
Notre Dame’s winningest quarterback brings with him plenty of leadership and intangibles in general. He also has a lot of gaming experience in his background. However, his size and arm strength fall below NFL standards, and there’s nothing in his game that he can really hang his hat on that would counter those issues. Makes receivers work too hard for the catch and was terrible throwing outside the numbers in 2020. Effective on RPO calls. He also does a good job of sensing pocket pressure and slides around or out of the pocket to make plays. He’s a capable runner and more of an athlete, but he lacks the gamechanging traits necessary to make a splash in the NFL.
University Highlights:
Spider chart using Mockdraftable:
In other waiver news, the Eagles lost Jack Anderson to the New York Giants and Josh Blackwell to the Chicago Bears.
There are several reasons why Anderson at NYG makes sense. The former Bills GM was in Buffalo when Anderson was drafted there last year. Former Eagles executive Brandon Brown, who oversaw the pro personnel moves in Philly, likely played a role in the Birds signing Anderson off the Buffalo practice squad. Oh, and the Giants offensive line isn’t great and could definitely use more help. Good pickup for them, unfortunately. I was one of the many beat writers who had Anderson make the Eagles’ 53man roster, but they ended up keeping Josh Sills. They apparently valued Sills’ tackle/guard versatility more than Anderson’s center/guard repertoire.
As for Blackwell, that’s interesting. He didn’t even have him making the Eagles’ practice squad. The Birds had just waived him (and didn’t pick him up) last week as they were down to 80 players. The Eagles only brought him back on a temporary basis to eat up snaps in the preseason finale. But good for Blackwell.