Jacoby Brissett is coming to the NFC East ... but not to play for the Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles were said to be among teams interested in free agent quarterback Jacoby Brissett ... but it turns out the veteran quarterback won’t be reuniting with Nick Sirianni.

He is instead joining the NFC East as a rival player. Brissett is signing a one-year contract worth $10 million ($8 million guaranteed) with the Washington Commanders, according to a report from NFL insider Diana Russini.

With Jalen Hurts set to be cemented as a franchise quarterback, Brissett would not have had a path to playing time in Philly (outside of injury). With the Commanders, Brissett can conceivably compete with Sam Howell for the starting job. It’s quite possible he’ll beat the 2022 draft pick out. If not, he figures to be a high quality backup.

Brissett is 18-30 as a starter. He has a 13-18 record since the beginning of 2019, his fourth season in the league. So, it’s not like he’s totally awesome and poised to make the Commanders into a great time. At the very least, though, he represents some kind of upgrade over Carson Wentz, who had a 80.2 passer rating last year. Plus, his teammates don’t hate him.

The Eagles will now need to look elsewhere for a backup QB. Gardner Minshew is still out there but I’m not sure the Birds are in a rush to re-sign him. Perhaps they try to go after Marcus Mariota, who has ties to Sirianni’s coaching staff. The recently released Matt Ryan seems cooked to me but he’s notably from Exton, PA, which is about an hour outside Philly.

The sense here is the Eagles would prefer to have a more experienced option behind Hurts as opposed to relying on a rookie and Ian Book.