By Harry Allison
The Eagles are starting to look like an employment agency for lost quarterbacks.
How else to explain the Super Bowl champs’ signing of ex-Penn Stater Christian Hackenberg, who has already failed with the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders?
The Eagles signed Hack yesterday and waived center Ian Park was to make room on the 90-man roster. The team now has five quarterbacks on the roster.
Hackenberg finished as Penn State’s all-time leader in a number of categories including passing yards (8,457), completions (693), passing touchdowns (48), and 300-yard passing games (9).
After his true freshman season at Penn State under then-head coach Bill O’Brien, Hackenberg was pegged as a future top draft pick after setting 12 school freshman passing records and being named freshman All-America by numerous publications.
James Franklin took over for O’Brien in 2014 and Hackenberg’s production dipped, but the 6-4, 228-pound quarterback’s potential was still good enough to get him chosen in the second round by the New York Jets in 2016. The Eagles will play the Jets in the fourth preseason game on August 30.
Hackenberg never played in a regular-season game and was traded to Oakland this offseason for a conditional draft pick, but was waived after three weeks.
Still only 23 years old, the Eagles hope to unearth another prospect at the quarterback position.
