Eagles go with Trent Edwards over Mike Kafka as No. 3 quarterback
The No. 3 quarterback spot will go to Trent Edwards.
Eagles go with Trent Edwards over Mike Kafka as No. 3 quarterback
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
The No. 3 quarterback spot will go to Trent Edwards.
Edwards will make the roster over Mike Kafka, according to two sources close to the situation.
The Eagles made several stabs at trading Kafka, but eventually made his release official.
"In the end, we had to make the difficult decision to let Mike Kafka go," Eagles coach Andy Reid said in a statement. "Mike is a class act, a student of the game and a great person and I think will have no problem finding a job in the NFL very soon.
"On the other hand, I'm proud of the way Trent Edwards conducted himself since the early days on the offseason workouts. He had to fight for everything he earned this summer. He improved each and every day and made the most of every opportunity."
Kafka, a 2010 fourth round pick, has been dealing with a fractured left hand. In his place, Edwards proved capable of running the offense.
Edwards completes a remarkable turnaround. He showed up at camp in the spring buried on the depth chart. He took hardly any repetitions through most of minicamps and then training camp. But when Kafka went down he took hold of his opportunity and rode it all the way to making the team.
"I always kept my head up and I always believed in my ability to play the position," Edwards said during a conference call. "I always kept in the back of the my mind that this organization brought me in to evaluate me and give me a chance. I didn't get as many chances as I thought I was going to get during practice. I stayed positive. Anything can happen in this league."
Edwards, 28, finished the preseason 54 of 80 for 489 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. He said following Thursday's preseason finale against the New York Jets that it was the finest preseason of his career.
Originally drafted by the Bills in 2007, Edwards started in 32 games for Buffalo from 2007-10. He finished the 2010 season with the Jaguars and started one more game. He was not on an NFL roster all of last season, however.
The Eagles signed him in late February, but said soon after that the No. 2 job was Kafka's. The Eagles, though, drafted Nick Foles in the third round and rookie went out and grabbed the backup job from Kafka as his nursed his injury.
Edwards said that he expects the Eagles to go with Foles if Vick gets injured -- even if it were to occur early in the season.
"Right now, all I'm focused on is helping those two guys ahead of me," Edwards said.
Kafka was the Eagles' third quarterback during his first two seasons, but he did back up Vick in two games last season when Vince Young was injured. Kafka jumped in for the injured Vick in Weeks 2 and 3. He performed well against the Falcons, but struggled the next week against the New York Giants.
He did not have a strong camp, but only attempted nine preseason passes before breaking his hand.
Smart...good to see that AR wasn't stubborn or too proud for this one and made the sensible move to have one experienced vet behind Vick. He will help Foles too.— jmk1512- Edwards over Kafka and Skelton over Kolb.
Why did we trade our way out the first round and draft Kolb with our 2nd-round pick while we were in Superbowl contention? That's as big a mistake as promoting our offensive line coach to defensive coordinator.
I am so glad Lurie applied pressure to the NFL coach who has made more head-scratching moves than the rest combined. - Good!— fischman
- Finally the right decision from the front office! Now get Gilyard back and cut Riley Cooper!— citysims
- Good move.— Gray Areas
- SMART FOOTBALL MOVES— JIM IAQUINTO
- didn't think Andy would have the guts to cut his loss and go with the better player. Good move!— connorjr
- the absolute right move...having trouble with the release of joselio hanson,though...watch an nfc east team gobble him up fast..— jabac
Comment removed.- Now if they can just cut Andy,Marty and Juan, we'd be all set! Sweet!!— Geno D
- And replace them with who, exactly? If they finish 8-8 again they'll all be replaced right after the season, giving the Eagles appropriate time to reload before free agency and the draft. But I guarantee you that Andy, Marty and Juan will all be there throughout the 2012 season. — SteveS11
- Kafka isn't the future nor is he an experienced back up. Can't see why this was a difficult decision. IF Edwards ever sees the field, at least he has already won games in the league.— hawk18
- This was as big of a no brainer decision as there ever was.
Edwards proved that he can be a competent backup and knows his place in the Eagles' pecking order. Kafka has never proven anything and was lucky to last here as long as he did.
— SteveS11 - great, now that the 3rd string QB is all set I acn rest easy knowing everything will be okay— peteike
