When news broke on Christmas Eve that the Philadelphia Eagles were releasing tight end Kevin Foelsch from their practice squad, fans had a pretty good feeling about what was coming news: Howie Roseman was looking to add a fourth quarterback to the roster.
That's right, for one reason or another, the Eagles actually don't have a quarterback on their practice squad, with all of the weekly reps going to Jalen Hurts, then Kenny Pickett, then Tanner McKee in (probably) that order.
However, with Hurts a DNP on the team's Wednesday injury report and Pickett suffering a rib injury during the Eagles' Week 16 loss to the Washington Commanders, the Eagles could find themselves in need of at least one more quarterback heading into Dallas Week Pt. 2 if for no other reason than to have an emergency arm should the QB1 and QB2 – whomever they may be – go down with an injury.
Well, on Christmas, the second domino fell in that series of events, with former Eagles quarterback Ian Book paying the team a visit ahead of a potential practice addition ahead of Week 17, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo.
A native of El Dorado Hills, California, who played his college ball at Notre Dame, Book was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL draft but only appeared in one game with one start in New Orleans, completing 12 of his 20 passes for 135 yards and two interceptions. He was also sacked eight times in that one game, which isn't necessarily his fault, but is a pretty incredible fact nonetheless.
From there, Book bounced around the NFL, serving as the Eagles' QB3 in 2022 before spending some time on the New England Patriots' practice squad in 2023 and signing a futures contract with the Chiefs in 2024, where he was waived back in August.
Now, folks, I'm not going to sugarcoat it: if Book comes into a game for the Eagles, they are in trouble. The Notre Dame product hadn't seen the field in a regular season game since before McKee was in the NFL and is barely even a member of the NFL at this point, having spent the entirety of the 2024 season away from organized activities. With that being said, most teams are in trouble if they have to go to a practice squad QB as their third option, so if disaster strikes over and over again, at least Kenneth Gainwell won't be under center taking snaps, should Book actually end up on the practice squad heading into Week 17.
