Getty Quarterback Nick Mullens #4 of the San Francisco 49ers.
Former San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback Nick Mullens will get a fresh start in the “City of Brotherly Love” after agreeing to a deal with the Eagles, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Monday morning.
Eagles reached agreement with former 49ers’ QB Nick Mullens.
Mullens, 26, went undrafted in 2017 and later signed with the Niners when head coach Kyle Shanahan took over. He spent his entire rookie season on the practice squad before bumping up to the active roster in 2018.
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Mullens’ Has Showcased Impressive Numbers
In three seasons with San Francisco, Mullens saw action in 19 games with 16 starts. In that span, he has completed 387 of 600 pass attempts (64.5 percent) for 4,714 yards with 25 touchdowns and 22 interceptions.
Ironically, the 4,405 yards he managed in his first 16 starts rank second in NFL history, trailing only behind Kansas City Chief’s MVP, Patrick Mahomes.
The Eagles have signed former 49ers QB Nick Mullens.
Fun fact: Mullens threw for 4,405 yards in his first 16 starts, trailing only Patrick Mahomes for the most in NFL history.
During his 2018 “rookie” year, Mullens took over for the injured Jimmy Garoppolo and led the 49ers to a 3-5 record, with 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Through each of his 16 career starts, Mullens has passed for more than 200 yards.
Mullens will join the Eagles’ depth chart as their No. 3 QB with Joe Flacco and Jalen Hurts competing for the starting spot. He will replace Jamie Newman on the roster; the undrafted rookie out of Wake Forest that the Eagles decided to move on from following a poor performance at early OTAs.
While the Eagles have upgraded their QB3, the 49ers have done much more at QB2.
49ers Upgrade their QB Room, Earn Peter King’s Respect
Mullens didn’t come in clutch for the 49ers last season after Garoppolo was sidelined with an ankle injury. He went 2-6 in his eight starts and was injured in the Week 15’s 41-33 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. He joined Jimmy G. on injured reserve for the remainder of the season.
Heading into the 2021 season, Kyle Shanahan and Arthur Lynch made it a priority to upgrade their QB room. They traded up with the Miami Dolphins from No. 9 overall to No. 3 overall in this year’s draft and took the most athletic signal-caller on the board, Trey Lance.
In the meantime, they earned highly-touted NFL analyst, Peter King’s respect. He even believes the move puts the Niners’ 5th in the power rankings.
“The reason I put them so high is because what has stood in the way of the 49ers in three of the last four years,” King shared. “What’s stood in the way is that they have not had an above-average quarterback. They haven’t had a top 10 quarterback playing in three of those four years.”
A healthy Garoppolo took the Niners to a Super Bowl in 2019. However, an ankle injury this past season hindered his performance, and the team ended up with a 6-10 record without and help from the backups.
“Now, when you look at the 49ers, if Garoppolo gets hurt, you’ve got to figure that Trey Lance — maybe Trey Lance takes the job. You don’t know,” King continued. “But you’ve got to figure that Trey Lance is going to give them a lot better play than either Beathard or Mullens. So, I just look at this as a quarterback depth call.”
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