Following an abysmal 2020 season, Jacksonville subsequently “earned” the chance to select first overall in the upcoming annual draft. With that first overall selection, the Jaguars are expected by many (everybody) to take former Clemson gun-slinger Trevor Lawrence in an attempt to rejuvenate a franchise on the heels of three consecutive seasons in the basement of the AFC South.

With Lawrence’s selection a virtual certainty, reports have swirled surrounding the future of Gardner Minshew, the team’s former face of resurgence who provided the aptly popular Minshew Mania craze in Jacksonville.

According to Ian Rapoport, the Jaguars have fielded calls regarding a potential trade involving Minshew, though it is not yet clear whether or not newly hired head coach Urban Meyer would want to trade the current best talent under center within the roster who could represent a nice, cheap option at QB2 behind Lawrence. However, if Minshew wants to start, Jacksonville isn’t the place.

Furthermore, who would be and should be willing to trade for Minshew following an unimpressive 2020 that resulted in just one win over eight starts? Here are three potential destinations for Minshew that would offer him a chance to compete for the starting job this summer.

Denver Broncos

Under Lock, the Broncos have received a mixed bag of both flashes of superstardom and poor overall play. Unfortunately for Denver, it’s been much more of the latter. Enter Minshew, who touts similar skills as a passer to Lock with two traits Lock has lacked: mobility and leadership skills. The best-case scenario would be for general manager George Paton to bring in Minshew and allow the two to compete in training camp in a true battle of “best man wins.”

Current backups Brett Rypien and Jeff Driskel wouldn’t scare anyone about taking their job, so it would seem vital for Fangio to add a gritty competitor in Minshew who not only would push Lock for QB1 reps, but ultimately could take over under center if Lock were to digress or suffer an unforeseen injury.

New York Giants

This is where it gets fun. Not only would Minshew in the Big Apple remind many of the Joe Namath days as a Jet surrounded by the glitz and glam of New York City, but Minshew, arguably, is more talented than Daniel Jones.

OK, before you scoff at the idea, hear me out. In two seasons and six fewer starts, Minshew has outperformed Jones. Minshew touts a higher completion percentage (62.9) to Jones’ (62.2), passing touchdowns (37) to Jones (35), with half the amount of career interceptions with 11. Jones was selected as the future under center for the Giants as a top-10 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, but after two years of turnover-riddled football, Minshew’s addition inside a quarterback room with Jones and current backup Clayton Thorson could be, and should be, an acquisition general manager Dave Gettleman entertains.

Philadelphia Eagles

(Editor's note: UPDATE: The Eagles have since signed Joe Flacco, so this is no longer a likely landing spot)

For a team with limited cap space, why not take a flier on Minshew if the Jalen Hurts experiment ultimately falls flat? Minshew is due just $850,000 this year, and $965,000 in 2022, so he would be an easy release if head coach Nick Sirianni uses him as a one-year rental to backup Hurts. However, with Carson Wentz now on to greener pastures in Indianapolis, the Eagles don’t have a true backup. Nate Sudfeld looks good in uniform at 6-foot-6, but he doesn’t offer much more than what Josh McCown did. Minshew would represent that car in the mirror with his metaphorical high-beams for Hurts, consistently sitting in his blindside until he ultimately passes by. The same scenario could play out when focusing on the quarterback position, where Minshew could enter training camp and push Hurts for starters snaps if the second-year quarterback fails to adapt to Sirianni’s offense.