Why Eagles Should Consider Brendan Sorsby Even With Crowded QB Room

Brendan Sorsby is available for the taking.

The Texas Tech quarterback is planning to apply for the NFL Supplemental Draft, leaving the Red Raiders and hoping that an NFL team gambles on him this summer. Of course, Sorsby's college career was controversial -- to say the least.

Previously ruled ineligible by the NCAA after placing more than 9,000 bets on his teams while at Indiana, Cincinnati, and Texas Tech (including on Indiana while he was a quarterback on the team), Sorsby was granted a temporary injunction by a Texas judge earlier this month that would have given him an opportunity to play college football this season -- despite all the baggage.

Sorsby is choosing not to go that route, with all the legal entanglements surely to come his way over the next few weeks. He''ll take his shot at the NFL, with the hope a team will spend a 2027 draft pick to take him this season.

Will the Eagles be interested? Even with all the controversy, they have reasons to take him this summer.

The talent is there

Even with the gambling addiction, Sorsby would have been one of the top quarterbacks taken in this year''s draft. He completed 61.6% of his passes for Cincinnati last season, throwing for 2,800 yards with 27 TD to 5 INT -- leading the Big 12 in passer rating (155.1) and yards per completion (13.5).

Sorsby also rushed for 580 yards and 9 TD, which is what NFL teams covet. The dual-threat ability as a quarterback, coupled with the high velocity of his throws makes Sorsby an intriguing prospect.

There is some controversy with his decision making, but Sorsby has the tools to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. He would have been taken high in the 2026 NFL draft based on his talent, as Sorsby was considered the second-best quarterback behind Fernando Mendoza.

Why would Eagles consider Sorsby?

The quarterback room is clearly crowded in Philadelphia. Jalen Hurts is the QB1 and the starter for 2026, and there's no debate there.

Behind Hurts? The Eagles may be looking for an opportunity to improve.

Tanner McKee and Andy Dalton split the QB2 reps during minicamp, and neither quarterback performed well splitting the reps. Dalton may even be the QB2 in training camp based on how the Eagles split their reps.

The futures of both players have to be considered here. McKee will be a free agent after the season and the Eagles may even trade him this summer -- hoping to get a high Day 3 pick for him. Dalton is 38 years old and one a one-year contract, so this could be his last seaosn in the NFL.

Cole Payton is a fifth-round rookie and has struggled in minicamp. While Payton is a project the Eagles are developing, Sorsby is a clear upgrade over him and could be ready to play in a game in 2026. He may even be good enough to back up Hurts.

No matter what Hurts' future is with the Eagles, Philadelphia likes to develop quarterbacks just to have a contingency plan. If the Eagles give Hurts an extension, they still will need a QB2 to develop past 2026.

This is where Sorsby could enter the picture. The Eagles could still move on from McKee and get a draft pick in return, while using a 2027 draft pick to bid on Sorsby -- basically canceling the pick they used out.

There still would be four quarterbacks on the roster if the Eagles took Sorsby, but that can be handled quickly. Payton still has a lot to prove, and the Eagles could take the gamble on him after training camp and place him on waivers -- hoping no team claims him and he can develop on the practice squad.

Dalton or McKee could be the QB2, as the Eagles don't owe anything to quarterbacks in the last year of their contracts. The smart business decision would be for the Eagles to trade McKee and get the draft pick back and ride iwth Dalton as the QB2 for 2026.

This is if they take Sorsby in the supplemental draft. And if he's not suspended by the NFL.

A forward thinking move

This wouldn't be the first time the Eagles took a gamble on a player that had some gambling baggage.

Philadelphia signed Isaiah Rodgers in August of the 2023 season after the Indianapolis Colts waived the starting cornerback due to a league gambling suspension. The Eagles knew Rodgers wasn't going to play in 2023, but they took the chance on him anyway.

They bet on Rodgers' character and it paid off, as Rodgers was a huge contributor on the Super bowl LIX champion defense. The NFL reinstated Rodgers prior to the 2024 season, making him eligible to play. He started three games in that 2024 season, allowing a 77.1 passer rating to opposing quarterbacks in 317 defensive snaps.

Rodgers redeemed himself and landed a two-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings last offseason. The Eagles took a shot on Rodgers hoping they could get something out of him in the year he was benched by the NFL. Two years installed in the Eagles culture paid off.

There's precedent here. The Eagles could consider the same regarding Sorsby, knowing the NFL may hand down a potential punishment on him.

How does the supplemental draft work?

So how do the Eagles get Sorsby? They technically could bid a first-round pick to get him, but that's very unlikely.

This is how the supplemental draft works. The NFL holds a weighted lottery to determine the order, as the team with the No. 1 pick in the draft (Raiders) get the maximum amount of ping pong balls (32) while the team at No. 32 (Seahawks) get just one ping pong ball.

There are three separate lotteries, one of teams that won six-or-fewer games, one for non-playoff teams with 6+ wins, and one for playoff teams -- which the Eagles would classify.

Once the order is set, teams submit "bigs" for a player they wish to select -- with a draft pick they wish to part ways with.

If the Eagles wanted to bid a fourth-round pick on Sorsby, if they "win" the bid they would have to part ways with a 2027 fourth-round pick and would be awarded him. This doesn't have to be a fourth-round pick, but this is an example.

If no team submitted a first, second, or third-round bid, and if no other team had a fourth-round bid -- the Eagles would get Sorsby. If a team like the Arizona Cardinals submitted a fourth-round bid for Sorsby with the Eagles, the Cardinals would get Sorsby because they were higher in the lottery.

The better the bid, the better the chance of getting Sorsby. The NFL hasn't had a player selected in the supplemental draft since 2019, but Sorsby has a good chance of breaking that drought -- mainly because he's a quarterback.

The Eagles draft picks

The Eagles currently have seven picks in the 2027 NFL Draft -- a first, second, fourth, two fifths, and two sevenths. If a team has multiple picks in a round acquired by other teams, that team can determine which pick they want to bid when they submit it ina supplemental draft.

The Eagles have a fifth-round pick from the New England Patriots, a seventh-round pick from the New York Jets or Baltimore Ravens and a seventh-round pick from the Dallas Cowboys. They could use ether of those picks to select Sorsby -- and relinquish them if they are awarded him.

Getting Sorsby in the supplemental draft would likely require a higher pick, at the very least the second-round pick if the Eagles wanted him.

Teams will get a deeper evaluation on Sorsby in the coming weeks to see if he's worth bidding a 2027 draft pick on. The Eagles could be able to strike based on how much teams are willing to pay for Sorsby.

Who knows? They may be able to get Sorsby with a second-round bid. This would be a gamble worth taking.

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