After losing Gardner Minshew to the Indianapolis Colts, the Philadelphia Eagles were in the market for a new backup quarterback. 

Insert Marcus Mariota. The Eagles signed the former first-round pick of the Tennessee Titans to a one-year $5 million deal that balloons to $8 million with incentives. 

In a recent article in The Athletic, Zach Berman and Bo Wulf graded the Eagles on the signing, taking into account the long history the Eagles have had of coveting Mariota's services. 

Take a look at what they had to say regarding the recent signing: 

Mariota makes plenty of sense as the Eagles’ No. 2 quarterback, for the reasons we outlined in calling him the “best fit” at the position in our free-agency preview. For one, there’s familiarity. New quarterbacks coach Alex Tanney was a backup behind Mariota for parts of three seasons in Tennessee, and tight ends coach Jason Michael was Mariota’s offensive coordinator for one season and his quarterbacks coach for two. There’s also some skill-set overlap with Jalen Hurts from a mobility perspective. This is the first time in three seasons Hurts’ backup will be able to carry over some degree of the quarterback-inclusive running game to the offense. Mariota’s 438 rushing yards in 13 starts last season were a career-high and ranked sixth in the league among quarterbacks.

Mariota serving as Jalen Hurts' backup makes sense. Both can make plays with their legs. And the offense wouldn't have to change dramatically if Hurts were to miss time, similar to what happened at the tail end of the 2022 NFL season. 

Where things can go wrong for Mariota, however, is in the passing game. He isn't a skillful passer. He's never really been that during his NFL career. Hurts on the other hand can make plays with his arm. Obviously, if called into action, the Eagles wouldn't ask Mariota to be Hurts. But there needs to be enough redundancy in their game to that there isn't a massive shift in how Philadelphia wants to play. 

As for the grade? The Athletic graded in terms of chips. This is what they had to say:

Grade (on a scale of chips): Garden Salsa Sun Chips. No one’s idea of an exciting purchase, but capable of getting the job done over the middle stretch of a long road trip and won’t leave you feeling too gross about yourself. 

That sounds about right. It isn't a move that will move the needle. But it gives Philly all it needs out of a backup quarterback.