Gardner Minshew trade grades: Eagles, Jaguars do smart business

Quarterback Gardner Minshew was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles with the Jacksonville Jaguars getting a late draft pick in return. Who won the trade?

Once the Jacksonville Jaguars nabbed Trevor Lawrence with the No. 1 overall pick, Gardner Minshew’s days were always going to be numbered with the team. And though he fought to try and take the job from the rookie, he lost out as expected. So now Minshew will be looking for a revival and doing so on a new team: the Philadelphia Eagles.

Minshew was traded to the Eagles on Saturday in exchange for a conditional sixth-round pick, per NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport. Despite 1.5 seasons as the starter in Jacksonville — and pretty solid play with the highest QB rating of any quarterback from the 2019 class — Minshew won’t compete for the starting job in Philadelphia.

That, however, doesn’t mean it’s not a good move for the Eagles or, for that matter, the Jaguars. So let’s break down both sides of the Gardner Minshew trade by handing out a grade to both teams.

Philadelphia Eagles grade in the Gardner Minshew trade

Anyone who watched Joe Flacco in the preseason could quickly tell you that Philly needed to bring in someone else to back up Jalen Hurts. The former Ravens signal-caller was downright awful in the preseason.

Now the Eagles bring in a player in Gardner Minshew who, not only came relatively cheap, but has played well as a starter in the league already. Though he wasn’t perfect in that capacity, he always did look as if he was destined to be one of the best backup quarterbacks in the league. That’s the type of upgrade Philadelphia needed to make.

Furthermore, Minshew could step in and play a similar style if Hurts went down. He’s not the same caliber of athlete as the starter but he’s mobile and can dice up the short and intermediate areas of the field. Ultimately, this was savvy for Philadelphia in this moment. Grade: A

Jacksonville Jaguars grade in the Gardner Minshew trade

Though there are probably some people wondering why Jacksonville didn’t get more compensation in return for Minshew, they didn’t have much leverage. After naming Lawrence the starter (and before then by perception), teams were always trading for a backup quarterback, which depresses the value.

That being said, this was strong for the Jaguars to get conditions on the pick that could make it move up to a fifth-rounder if Minshew plays any kind of substantial snaps for Philadelphia this season. Doing so ensures that the deal doesn’t look substantially worse should the quarterback go play and play well somewhere else.

Most importantly, the Jags are still fine at quarterback behind Lawrence. No, C.J. Beathard or Jake Luton aren’t the level of player Minshew is but they also wouldn’t have demanded anything in a trade. Thus, they traded a valuable asset and don’t totally take their legs out in the quarterback depth chart.