The Eagles signed quarterback Matt Nagy on Monday, after primary backup Kevin Kolb suffered a knee injury.
According to CNSPhilly.com, Nagy’s contract was disapproved by the league.
Since Nagy undoubtedly inked a non-exotic one-year deal for the minimum salary, the likely explanation is that the league saw through the whole “coaching intern” thing, which gave Nagy full access to meetings and would have encouraged other teams to hire a “coaching intern” at every position, in order to have them ready in the event that an injury creates a roster spot.
Then again, if the Eagles promptly re-sign Nagy, the obvious implication will be that there was a language issue with the contract, a condition that to our recollection is unprecedented for a street free agent.
UPDATE: The Eagles have disclosed on their official web site that they won’t be re-signing Nagy. And that tells us that the league office told the Eagles that they wouldn’t be permitted to use coaching internships to stash potential players.
SECOND UPDATE: A league source says that the disapproval related to Nagy’s contract with the AFL. But we don’t quite understand why a deal with a now-defunct league would affect Nagy’s ability to play in the NFL.