For $5 million, Marcus Mariota played a total of 44 snaps last season − and that was a good thing for the Eagles, who obviously never want to use a backup quarterback.

But it was a bad thing for the Eagles' bottom line because that money can be better spent elsewhere.

So as the Eagles begin their plans for the 2024 season, there actually is a better way to allocate those backup quarterback funds. And if we learned anything from this past season, the Eagles could go back to a strategy they used in 2020 when they drafted Jalen Hurts in the second round, ostensibly to serve as the backup to franchise quarterback Carson Wentz.

Sure, that move turned out badly for Wentz, who became disillusioned, then went on to have the worst season of his career. Wentz was then benched for Hurts and traded after the season. The Eagles stayed with Hurts and were rewarded with a Super Bowl appearance last year, along with three straight playoff appearances.

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There are no guarantees, of course, but there are plenty of indications that Hurts would handle that kind of situation much better than Wentz did.

For their part, the Eagles are even better equipped to pull off the maneuver because they have two second-round picks in the 2024 draft.

And if Washington quarterback Michael Penix is still available when the Eagles pick at either No. 50 and No. 53, the Eagles should pounce. Remember, in 2020, the Eagles had only one second-round pick, so it seemed like a wasted pick when they used it on a backup quarterback.

The Eagles were proven right, of course, when Hurts blossomed into the MVP runner-up in 2022. The Eagles are 33-14 with Hurts as the starter since the start of the 2021 season.

Penix, meanwhile, comes in with more experience than the typical college QB. Penix is 24 years old, with six seasons of starting experience in college. He was at Indiana for the first four, then Washington, where he led the Huskies to the national championship game this past season.

Penix threw for 9,544 yards in his two seasons with the Huskies. That included 430 yards in Washington's semifinal win over Texas, before he and the Huskies were shut down by Michigan's top-ranked defense.

Penix could conceivably drop to the second round because of his injury history as he suffered season-ending injuries in each of his four seasons at Indiana − two ACLs and two shoulder injuries − and his age.

While that might scare off a team looking for a franchise quarterback in the first round, it won't affect a playoff-caliber team looking for a backup quarterback in the second round.

And here, having Penix would help the Eagles' salary-cap situation. A second-round pick in the Eagles' drafting range would count about $1.5 million, well below the cost of a veteran backup QB such as Mariota, who would cost somewhere in the $5-10 million range.

Of course, there are still about 2½ months until the start of the NFL draft. But the Eagles will have several holes to fill on defense for new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. They are currently about $20.3 million under the estimated NFL salary cap, according to overthecap.com, and they can add about another $10 million-$15 million to their cap space by releasing some veterans and restructuring some others.

Already, they seem to be planning for that by telling edge rusher Haason Reddick that he can seek a trade. Reddick is entering the last season of his contract with a salary cap hit of $21.9 million in 2024. If such a trade happens after June 1, the Eagles can save another $16 million on the salary cap.

Let's examine another factor: The actual need for a top-caliber backup quarterback.

For every Nick Foles, who took over when Wentz tore his ACL late in the season, and then led the Eagles to the only Super Bowl win in franchise history, there are many, many more who did not.

In fact, since Foles, these QBs have won the Super Bowl: Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Brady, Matthew Stafford, Mahomes, Mahomes.

Of the 14 playoff teams this season, only one went in with a backup as an injury replacement, and that was Joe Flacco with the Browns. The Steelers went with Mason Rudolph over the benched Kenny Pickett.

Both teams lost in the first round.

The Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Chargers didn't sniff the playoffs after Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert, respectively, were lost to season-ending injuries.

Sure, you can make the argument that a top backup could have enabled them to get to the playoffs. But are any of those backup QBs beating Mahomes? Or the Bills' Josh Allen? Or the Ravens' Lamar Jackson?

It's the same thing in the NFC. Go ahead and denigrate San Francisco's Brock Purdy at your peril, as the Eagles can attest in the Dec. 3 game in which Purdy threw four TDs and had a passer rating of 148.8 in the 49ers' 42-19 win.

Or what about Stafford and the Lions?

Put another way: Do you think the Chiefs are getting to the Super Bowl, let alone winning it, with their backup QB? I'll give you a few seconds to think about who that QB is before revealing the answer ...

It's Blaine Gabbert. The Chiefs signed Gabbert for $1.2 million this season, about the same price the Eagles would end up paying Penix this season if they're able to draft him in the second round this spring.

And it's very possible that in a few years, the Eagles can flip Penix to another team for an early- to mid-round pick.

Mariota or Penix? Even 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan couldn't botch that coin toss.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: How Eagles can draft Jalen Hurts backup, and avoid Carson Wentz fiasco