Former Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota signs with Philadelphia Eagles
Former Oregon star Marcus Mariota has found his next career stop.
Late Thursday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Mariota has signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles
Per Schefter, Mariota reached an agreement $5 million deal that is worth up to $8 million and is expected to be the Eagles’ backup quarterback next season.
Mariota began the 2022 season as the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons and threw for 2,219 yards, 15 touchdowns, and nine interceptions with a 61.3 completion percentage in 13 starts. During that time, the Falcons went 5-8.
Late in the season, Mariota was placed on injured reserve due to a knee injury and Desmond Ridder took over the starting job.
Mariota, who won the Heisman Trophy at Oregon in 2014 and led the Ducks to a national championship game appearance, will be reunited with one of his college receivers in Philadelphia. Former Ducks’ wideout and track and field Olympian Devon Allen signed with the Eagles last offseason and spent the 2022 campaign on the franchise’s practice squad.
More on the 2023 NFL offseason, free agency
The NFL 2023 calendar year is set to begin at 4 p.m. ET on March 15 when contracts running through 2022 will officially run out, making those players free agents. Prior to the beginning of free agency, teams will have a chance to designate one franchise or transition tag player, starting on Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. ET and ending on March 7. Beginning March 13 through March 15 teams will be allowed a legal negotiation with players who are set to become unrestricted free agents.
In addition to NFL free agency, the new year also marks the beginning of all trades being made official by the league office. April 21 marks the deadline to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets while April 26 marks the deadline for teams to match restricted free agent offers sheets. 722 players are slated to become free agents in 2023.
More on restricted, exclusive rights free agents
Players with only three years of accredited NFL experience become restricted free agents. Their original team will have the option to apply first-round, second-round, original-round, and right-of-fight-of-first-refusal tenders on players at escalating price tags. The higher the round, the more expensive the tender amount; however, if a separate team does offer a contract and the original team does not match that round pick will be conveyed from the new team to the original team. Right of first refusal only gives a team the option to match or not. If they don’t match, they get nothing in return. An original-round tender would send a draft pick from whatever round the player was drafted back to the original team if they chose not to match. The original team will have five days to match once a player signs an offer sheet from a new team.
