Andy Dalton turns down the Eagles' reunion call

The Eagles had a rough Sunday in Carolina, and the fallout reached a guy who wasn't even on the roster anymore.

Jeff McLane

@Jeff_McLane

My #Eagles grades after losing streak extends to four with a 25-14 defeat to the Panthers: *Offense remains disjointed amid injuries *Tanner McKee hangs in there in relief of Jalen Hurts *Defense and special teams struggle and succumb Much more here: t.co/cOmvMJbHEb

So that's 4 straight losses after a 25-14 loss to the Panthers, with Tanner McKee finishing the game in relief of Hurts. According to ProFootballTalk, Hurts is now out indefinitely. Philly's quarterback room is McKee, rookie Cole Payton and Joe Milton, who they just grabbed off the Cowboys' practice squad. That's not a room you want to be leaning on in October, so the Eagles called the veteran they had just let go.

ProFootballTalk

@ProFootballTalk

Cut nine days ago, the Eagles wanted veteran QB Andy Dalton to return. He declined, and he'll be signing with another team as soon as tomorrow. t.co/DU8dRc4qa9

The awkward part is how he left. Philadelphia traded a 7th-round pick to Carolina for Dalton back in March to be the steady backup. Then in Week 3 against the Bears, he came in while Hurts was being checked for a concussion and threw a costly interception, which was his only pass attempt of the season. He got bumped below McKee the next week, and the Eagles released him on October 9 because they needed the roster spot with injuries piling up. They had floated bringing him back on the practice squad. Instead he's taking his pick of the offers.

Dalton has reportedly had offers from multiple teams and has been weighing them for days, so this isn't a guy waiting by the phone. He's played for the Bengals, Cowboys, Bears, Saints, Panthers and Eagles. He knows what a backup job looks like, and he apparently knows which team just demoted him after 1 bad throw. Hard to blame him for picking somewhere else.

In the meantime, it's McKee's offense, and Nick Sirianni sounded like a coach who knows the current plan isn't working.

Jeff McLane

@Jeff_McLane

"Everything's on the table. To do the same thing over and over again and not get the results, that'd be foolish. Everything's on the table of what we need to do to be able to put points on the board." -- Nick Sirianni when asked about shifting the offense to play more to Tanner McKee's strengths, but "everything's on the table" likely means that no one is safe.

"Everything's on the table" is the kind of thing a coach says when the walls are closing in, and 4 straight losses will do that in Philadelphia. The thing to watch now is where Dalton signs. PFT points out that whichever team grabs him probably has to drop a quarterback to make room, and that guy could end up as the Eagles' consolation prize. Turning down a team that's desperate for a QB is a power move for a 2011 draft pick. Philly is hoping whoever gets cut because of it is any good.