Eagles go with Trent Edwards over Mike Kafka as No. 3 quarterback
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
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.
Kafkas QB rating has never been above 50. Edwards has starts, wins and a lifetime QB rating above 75 in this league (Best of all 2007 drafted QBs). How was this even close? And no team will ever trade with Andy again when it comes to QBs in this league. So they had no shot at trading Kafka. After Donovan McNabb and K. Kolb were hyped by Andy and the Eagles and went elsewhere and stunk, forget it.— thegooddre- He was a man, take him all in all, we shall not look upon his like again.— dragoon6
- Very happy for Trent Edwards - so glad he didn't get screwed out of a job that no one thought he'd take. Welcome to the team Trent!— carmendmv
- Lonewolf11 you have a short memory. They drafted Kolb in 07 because Reid thought he might be a franchise QB someday with the way he played in college plus McNabb was coming off his 2nd straight season and 4th in his last 5 at the time where he had a significant injury. And really, if you go back to his rookie year in 99 when he had a knee problem; in 02 he had his ankle broken; in 03 he had his thumb badly sprained; in 05 it was the chest injury and the sports hernia; in 06 he had the ACL tear. There comes a point and time when you're the coach--and this is why he drafted Foles in the 3rd round when injuries start taking a toll on the QB.— bobbyuk
- Place Kafka on the practice squad.— Mr. Barffington
- Geno D
Now if they can just cut Andy,Marty and Juan, we'd be all set! Sweet!!
YOU FORGOT TO ADD "CONVICK"z.
— oneway - Edwards come up Aces because he dominated when and who he was supposed to when called. Most of the guys Edwards threw on will never suit up again in the NFL.
Edwards signed with the Eagles to work with Marty, Doug and Andy to correct his mechanics. He should have been paying the Eagles to be here. Edwards and Foles are turning out to be mirrors of each other. The Eagle were/are looking for their next franchise Quarterback and now they have potentially two in hand.
— Dexter - Smart decision...Edwards earned it and looked great this pre-season.
Kafka...I wish him well but he didn't deserve a roster spot.
Gilyard and Rau are two I'd like to have back...still hard for me to trust Cooper. IMO he lacks "intestinal fortitude".— greenbloodVAEagle - Absolutely the correct move to make. The bottom line is, we have never seen Kafka play as well as Foles or Edwards did so far this preseason. They both produced and earned the spot. Kafka had 3 years previously with this team to prove himself worthy.— mish798798
- I think the Eagles were high on Kafka until this summer, but he just didn't show a lot. Edwards, though out of shape, moved the team.— armchairGM
- YO bedpan,Do You spray paint on the wall in your Mom's basement in caps also?— greenbloodVAEagle
- If I'm not mistaken,Edwards is the same age as the rookie QB of the Browns the team will face in game #1...just a thought.— greenbloodVAEagle
- Solid MOVE by AR ... johnnyu; good fortune MK...GO BIRDS....— john ullman
- very proud of coach reid and howie! No more trying to be smarter then anyone else, no more personal decisions influenced by pride...just good smart football moves! This has been a model offseason that fans have been waiting for. If Im going to rip them every summer, then I need to give credit where credit is due...Overall, this has been one of the best offseasons of the entire nfl over the past decade...NOt saying they hit a homerun and filled every whole...but they had a fantastic draft. No reaches, great value, no over smarting head scratching picks, they had a great free agency boosting team moral by locking up key players to extensions. They did a really nice job of undrafted free agents...You cant fix EVERYTHING in 1 offseason...but realistically, this is one of the finest offseasons....defietly the best one of andys tenure..
Very proud of andy for cutting his losses in kafka, and chosing the better plater! No to mention edwards is a veteran of this league. Bill walsh believed in trent, and trent didnt have much success, but he played with putrid sorrounding players, and inferior coaching staffs. Im really shocked that a good team hasnt given him a chance to compete for a backup til now. Great work by the birds...Edwards is also best friends with Foles. They are unseperable, and having Edwards around will definitely increase the rookies comfort level..
Since they cut Joselio, it must mean that Boykin is ready to ball— johnGiam - Good Post John.. based on past draft performances..you could always count on at least or two head scratchers.. Suffering from Kafkaitess, I for one nearly lost my mind when they drafted Foles over Boykin but in the end everything worked out.. This has been a very good draft and I cannot remember the last time the Eagles dotted so many I's and crossed so many T's when it comes present players and draftees to fill so many holes and answer so many questions. They have learned from the Jackson issue and refused to put McCoy through the same drama and they drafted much smarter. Im really comfortable with the QB situation and if Vick has a problem getting the job done this year with all the weapons he has then its time to shed his contract and let him go too. — nixman101
