What the Super Bowl being over means for the Eagles and their NFC East rivals

The most literal takeaway from the completion of the Super Bowl is that the 2021 season is officially over. Every team is 0-0 again as we’re all on to 2022.

What else does the Super Bowl being over mean?

That’s a question that RJ Ochoa posed on this week’s episode of Monday Football Monday on The SB Nation NFL Show. One of the answers provided by his co-host, Pete Sweeney, was that it means we’re done with the streak of the Super Bowl being hosted by the home team. Because the big game is being hosted in Arizona next year and he doesn’t see the Cardinals being the NFC’s top team.

Get the gist of this exercise? OK, good, because RJ and I applied the same idea to the NFL’s most important division on this week’s episode of the NFC East Mixtape podcast. What does the Super Bowl being over mean for the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Commanders (lol), and New York Giants? What’s next for these teams?

When it comes to the Birds, RJ and I both honed in on the same position.

To me, the Super Bowl being over means that the Eagles’ hunt for a new starting quarterback has begun. Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni publicly committing to Jalen Hurts hardly precludes them from exploring other options at the most important position in sports.

There have already been some instances of the Eagles being connected to other quarterbacks. Malik Willis notably drew Philly’s interest at the Senior Bowl. Albert Breer slotted Russell Wilson to the Eagles when asked he thinks the future Hall of Famer will play in 2022. Breer also included the Eagles among teams “ready to take a major swing” at the quarterback position this offseason.

We might not have to wait too much longer to hear more buzz about the Eagles’ interest in acquiring a new starter. One should recall that news of Matthew Stafford being traded emerged on January 30, 2021. The Eagles unofficially traded Carson Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts on February 18 last year. While such deals can’t become official until the new league year begins on March 16, the framework can be hammered out way in advance.

The 2022 NFL Combine, which begins on March 1, is the next significant event on the league’s calendar. And not only because it offers an opportunity for teams to evaluate draft prospects ... but because a lot of executives, scouts, reporters, etc. will all be in the same place at once. There’s bound to be some tampering going on. We could get a better sense where the Eagles stand on the quarterback front around then.

Of course, Philly going hunting for a new starter doesn’t necessarily guarantee they’ll find one. It’s possible they’ll have to turn to Jalen Hurts as a fallback plan. RJ made the case that outcome isn’t ideal for the Eagles because his stock will never be higher than it is right now.

You can listen to the entirety of what we said about the Birds and their rivals on the podcast or watch in video form below. NFC East Mixtape episodes are now uploaded to Bleeding Green Nation’s YouTube channel on a weekly basis.

Looking for more podcasts?

Don’t forget to check out this week’s episode of BGN Radio featuring me and Jimmy Kempski:

Rob “Stats” Guerrera and I ranked all nine new head coach hires for The ODDcast. You’ll never guess where Doug Pederson finished on my list: