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Chase Daniel: 'I Don't View Myself As A Backup Quarterback'

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Nobody wants to be the backup.

Not even new Eagles "backup" quarterback Chase Daniel.

"I don't view myself as a backup quarterback and I think that I'd be lying to you if I told you that I signed this just wanting to be a backup quarterback," Daniel told Howard Eskin on Monday's 94WIP Morning Show. "But I also understand that there's a true healthy competition in everything that we do."

Daniel, an undrafted 29-year-old quarterback out of Missouri, spent the past three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs playing under head coach Andy Reid and team's ex-quarterbacks coach Doug Pederson. Pederson was hired to be the head coach of the Eagles this winter.

"Well they tried to keep me," Daniel said of the Chiefs. "This was a better opportunity for me. When you have a contract like I was able to get I think that it shows a lot of confidence in you as a player. And so, I kinda new my role in Kansas City and I was sort of looking for a fresh start with Doug.

Listen: Chase Daniel on the 94WIP Morning Show

 

"If you're not competing, if you don't have competition -- and I think that's what Doug is building this team -- then I think you're truly doing something wrong."

Last week, the Eagles signed Daniel to a lucrative three-year deal reportedly worth up to $36 million and $12 million guaranteed, just weeks after re-signing starting quarterback Sam Bradford to a two-year deal.

Daniel's relatively large contract for an expected backup created some controversy over the QB position in Philadelphia. Trade talk even began to swirl, albeit on the anything-goes internet world, involving Sam Bradford.

"Obviously there's a lot of overreaction when anyone signs a type of deal like this," said Daniel, "especially at the quarterback position, especially for the Philadelphia Eagles."

While the contract certainly didn't hurt his decision to join the Eagles, Daniel -- who says six total teams expressed interest in him -- was mostly excited to stay with Pederson and his offense.

"It was really the opportunity to come in, know the offense, reunite with the Doug Pederson -- who I have been with for three years and taught me a lot about the quarterback position," Daniel said when asked about choosing Philadelphia. "It was really that opportunity that I was cherishing and felt good about.

"From a leadership perspective, everyone can come to me," Daniel continued. "I've been in the offense for three years now, so I know all the ins and outs, all the knicks and crannys. It took me two, two and a half years, to really feel comfortable in the offense. So I feel like a coach out there on the field, almost."

As for the NFL-crazed fan base in Philly compared to Kansas City? Daniel spoke to former Missouri and Chiefs teammate Jeremy Maclin about that.

"The way that people have been describing it, including J-Mac after I talked to him, was like, 'Hey they're rough, but they're good. They love you. They're fair.' So when I walked into my press conference I didn't know what to expect."

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