The Eagles did not see much from Kenny Pickett last year, and the team traded the ex-Steelers first-rounder after one season. Tanner McKee served as a central reason for Pickett’s Philadelphia one-and-done.
In the Pickett deal, however, Dorian Thompson-Robinson came back. The defending Super Bowl champions then used a sixth-round pick on Syracuse’s Kyle McCord. Teams almost never — the Browns’ current situation notwithstanding — carry four quarterbacks on their active roster. Many do not carry three, leaving teams likely to look at the Eagles for potential assistance as they set rosters ahead of Week 1.
McKee is on track to be Philly’s top Jalen Hurts backup, but SI.com’s Albert Breer anticipates the team receiving trade interest here. While the Eagles are one of the NFL’s busiest teams on the trade front, Breer notes it would take plenty for them to part with McKee.
Hurts has missed time due to injury in three of his four starter seasons, and he played hurt during much of the 2023 season. Philly carrying a player with three years of experience in Nick Sirianni‘s system — even if the Eagles are on a fourth play-caller in four years — will be important as they arrange their depth chart.
A Stanford alum, McKee is a former sixth-round pick signed through the 2026 season. He saw action in Weeks 17 and 18 last year, sitting behind Pickett for much of the season (but on Philly’s active roster) and receiving the start in Week 18. Facing a Giants team that had starters on the field, McKee took a mostly second-stringer-laden Eagles offense to a 20-13 win. McKee threw two touchdown passes in a 27-for-41, 269-yard showing.
While Thompson-Robinson has impressed at points during training camp and in preseasons, the UCLA alum has been woeful when the games have counted. The Browns have given the ex-fifth-rounder five starts, and he has seen action in 15 games. Thompson-Robinson has posted an alarming 1:10 TD-INT ratio. Considering McCord is a sixth-round rookie, it stands to reason the Eagles will protect McKee ahead of this season.
That said, an exec indicated (via Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz) the Eagles probably are not done on the trade front before Week 1. The Eagles have made some notable trades in recent years, including late-summer moves to add C.J. Gardner-Johnson (2022) and Jahan Dotson (2024). The team also has 10 draft choices in 2026, collecting an additional third-rounder in the Haason Reddick swap and adding either a fourth- or fifth-rounder (due to a conditional pick being exchanged) in the Bryce Huff deal.
The Eagles already swung a summer trade Sunday, acquiring wideout John Metchie from the Texans in a deal that included a Day 3 pick swap and tight end Harrison Bryant going to Houston. Metchie, who said (via AllPHLY.com’s Zach Berman) joins ex-Alabama WR teammate DeVonta Smith. The former second-round Texans draftee is in a contract year. He joins an Eagles team that just lost second-year wideout Johnny Wilson for the season.