Former 49ers quarterback Nick Mullens lands with Eagles

49ers fans may think it hard to believe, but both the team’s backups last year have found new teams, including Nick Mullens with the Eagles.

Perhaps both the Jacksonville Jaguars and Philadelphia Eagles‘ front offices haven’t been watching too many San Francisco 49ers games the past three or four years.

Otherwise, the Jags may have thought twice about signing backup quarterback C.J. Beathard, while the Eagles elected to bring aboard another former Niners backup, Nick Mullens.

This, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Monday morning:

Mullens, the unheralded and undrafted star out of Southern Mississippi, found himself in the national spotlight back in 2018 after Beathard flamed out in the wake of starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s Week 3 ACL tear that year.

And while Mullens ultimately went 3-5 during his first year as a starter, some thought it was enough to warrant a potential starting gig, either potentially with San Francisco over Garoppolo or via a trade somewhere else.

Read More: 49ers should kick themselves for not trading Nick Mullens

According to numerous reports, the 49ers received trade offers for Mullens the following offseason, yet they chose not to entertain them.

And after Mullens worked his way to a 2-6 record in 2020 following another Garoppolo injury, a year in which Mullens led the entire NFL with a 3.7 interception percentage on 326 pass attempts, it made more than enough sense for the Niners to completely rethink and overhaul their quarterback room heading into the current year.

One which involved the eventual replacement of Garoppolo, too, in the wake of San Francisco spending a No. 3 overall draft pick on quarterback Trey Lance.

Mullens owns a part of that story, yes. As a third-string backup, he wasn’t expected to be a regular starter for the bulk of two seasons in which Jimmy G was injured. Sure, there were some moderate successes there.

But Mullens’ shortcomings and gaffes under center only served to highlight just how critical Garoppolo’s injuries had been, thereby prompting the 49ers to make the move for Lance. However, going from an undrafted quarterback to a four-year player with 16 starts over three years isn’t the worst way to hang onto an NFL career.

So, perhaps in that way, we owe Mullens a bit of a thank you.