Never Say Never: Despite A Crowded QB Room, Eagles Could Monitor Brendan Sorsby

Everything in the NFL is about evaluation.

When you project down to a 53-man roster, the Eagles are already crowded in the quarterback room after adding toolsy fifth-round pick Cole Payton to the trio of Jalen Hurts, Tanner McKee, and Andy Dalton.

Crowded Room

Yet you can’t completely rule out Philadelphia in a supplemental draft scenario involving embattled Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby. A lot — and I mean a lot — would have to happen for the Eagles to consider Sorsby in that spot, though.

The easiest part of the equation is the most obvious one: that aforementioned evaluation. If the Eagles believe Sorsby is a first-round talent, then yes, GM Howie Roseman will be interested. If the grade is anything less, forget the other hurdles — Philadelphia will simply mind its business if Sorsby goes the professional route and enters the supplemental draft.

The real issue with Sorsby is his gambling addiction, which became serious enough that he checked into a treatment program that could derail his 2026 college season in Lubbock. That’s Hurdle No. 1. If Sorsby can’t play in college, he’ll likely apply for the supplemental draft. The NFL would probably approve it, opening the door for a quarterback most teams would have graded as the second-best signal-caller in April’s draft behind Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, who went No. 1 overall to Las Vegas, if there were no off-the-field issues.

Ultimately, the Eagles like to win outside the margins. There’s very little chance they would use a first- or even second-round pick on Sorsby. But if he falls further than that, the cost-benefit analysis starts to look very favorable.

Most will call that pie-in-the-sky thinking in a QB-desperate league, but Sorsby isn’t exactly a clean bet — pun intended. The NFL could suspend him before he’s even eligible to play a game.

There is precedent here for the Eagles with cornerback Isaiah Rodgers. In June of 2023, the talented Rodgers (now a starter in Minnesota) was suspended for one year and quickly waived by Indianapolis. The Eagles signed him in August, fully understanding he would miss the entire 2023 season.

It was a prudent, forward-thinking move at a time when the rest of the league had put Rodgers out of sight and out of mind. In 2024, that decision paid off handsomely when Rodgers developed into an exceptional CB3 behind Darius Slay and rookie Quinyon Mitchell en route to a Super Bowl LIX championship.

When a player exceeds expectations, the decision is hailed as brilliant. When things go south, the same sound process is often labeled foolish.

For those who study decision-making, it’s clear that a good decision is not a guarantee of a good result. Real-world choices are made under uncertainty, and outcomes are shaped by external factors and randomness.

Judging decisions solely by their results is a classic cognitive trap known as outcome bias. In the public-facing world of professional sports, however, that’s the reality decision-makers must live with. When something fails, context and logic rarely matter. Scapegoats are easier to offer up to the torch-and-pitchfork crowd.

The most tempered organizations are nearly always the most successful — and the Eagles have proven to be in that camp, even if they haven’t been immune to scapegoating, particularly with the coaching staff.

The more good decisions you stack, the more good outcomes you tend to get as you reduce the randomness of bad ones. The inverse is also true.

With Sorsby, the Eagles will only get involved when — and if — it makes sense, even if there appears to be no roster spot available right now.

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