Troy Aikman said he sought out Doug Pederson as soon as he heard of the news that Pederson had been fired on Monday.
Although Aikman admitted to having no direct knowledge of what was said at the meeting between Pederson and Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, he has a theory as to why Pederson was expelled.
Aikman, on the Michael Irvin Podcast on PodcastOne, said he thinks it is all about the position of defender.
“What I noticed was a difference of opinion about how they would progress as a defender,” said Aikman. “I realized that here Jeffrey Lurie, the owner, paid Carson Wentz a lot of money and they are in trouble with him, they cannot immediately terminate the contract. Still, I believe Doug Pederson felt that Jalen Hurts was probably the quarterback going forward, and how does that fit?
“Without having any understanding of what happened at that meeting, I think they said, well, there is a difference of opinion on how they are going to go ahead and fix it last season. I believe it all comes down to how they are going to deal with Carson Wentz. And that’s why Doug Pederson is looking for a job. ”
Before Pederson was fired, we heard reports of a deterioration in the relationship between the head coach and the quarterback. Pederson and Wentz had already called their relationship marriage and it looked like they were getting divorced.
An ESPN report said the relationship between Pederson and Wentz was irreparable, which made it look like it would be Pederson or Wentz staying beyond 2020.
Of course, during his long press conference on Monday, Lurie said the decision to fire Pederson was much more complex than that. He said he had “multiple, multiple variables” and “is not based on a specific quarterback or position group”.
“I see the whole picture more,” said Lurie. “It is not a particular player or group, and that is true for the future.”
Ultimately, Lurie said the decision was made because of a difference of opinion in relation to the team’s overview and the attack in the future. It looked like Pederson wanted to maximize the short-term window and Lurie thinks the Eagles are facing a phase of rebuilding or retrofitting, whatever you want to call it.
Pederson first decided to put Wentz on the bench in the second half of the Green Bay game on December 6. Hurts played well enough to win the next start and then played well enough to start the final four games of the 2020 season. Wentz in 12 games in 2020 was awful. Of course, the entire attack was out of control, but he regressed to the point where he became one of the worst defenders in the NFL.
Aikman said in the podcast that a defender in the franchise should help teams overcome their inefficiencies and Wentz compounded his problems in 2020.
“It will be a project for those who become the head coach,” said Aikman. “They will have to strengthen him to see if they can take him back to where he has confidence again and he can go out and play at a high level.”
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