Mark Sanchez is flying high after landing a new NFL gig…
The 27-year-old Mexican American pro football star, a former quarterback for the New York Jets, has signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles.
The deal comes a week after the Eagles lost quarterback Michael Vick to the Jets.
Sanchez’s deal is for $2.25 million and includes a $750,000 signing bonus, a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. The contract also includes up to an additional $1.75 million in bonuses, bringing the maximum value of the deal to $4 million. Sanchez can achieve his bonuses by playing up to 90 percent of the Eagles’ offensive plays.
The Eagles have called a news conference for 10:30 a.m. ET on Friday to introduce Sanchez.
Sanchez, released last Friday as soon as Vick’s deal with the Jets was complete, arrived in Philadelphia on Wednesday night and underwent a medical exam Thursday morning.
The parameters of the contract were set Monday, but the medical check was key because Sanchez is recovering from surgery on his throwing shoulder — a torn labrum that caused him to miss the entire 2013 season.
Sanchez, who resumed throwing recently, is said to be about 80 percent healthy. His hope is to be ready for OTA practices later in the spring. He also had arthroscopic knee surgery last season.
Nick Foles is the Eagles’ starter, but Sanchez’s presence should add some intrigue. Sanchez is 33-29 as a starter, and he has four playoff victories. He was the presumed opening day starter last season after outplaying rookie Geno Smith in the preseason, but he injured his shoulder in the fourth quarter of the Jets’ third preseason game.
Sanchez joins another former USC quarterback, Matt Barkley, on the Eagles’ depth chart. Presumably, Sanchez will be the No. 2.
Sanchez, the fifth overall pick in the 2009 draft, reached the AFC Championship Game in his first two seasons. The Jets regressed after that, going 14-18 over the next two seasons and missing the playoffs each time.