McKee remains healthy scratch in Week 2

Greenard was ruled out before the weekend, but aside from his absence, the Eagles will be operating at full strength as they look to kick things off against the Commanders in their season opener. McKee will serve as the Eagles’ emergency QB3.

To say the least, it’s going to be hard for the Eagles to recoup major draft capital in a trade for McKee if he can’t beat out an Andy Dalton who looked extremely washed last offseason. The backup quarterback battle updates in July will continue until morale improves.

That is a steep, steep asking price for McKee, who was a sixth-round pick in 2023 and has attempted exactly 88 passes in his career. According to Cimini, the Jets called Philly about trading for McKee before acquiring Geno Smith, and were told it would cost a second-round pick for the Eagles to deal the 6-foot-6 pocket passer. It was recently reported that a trade market is not “emerging” for McKee. If this asking price is true, then those reports should come as no surprise.

It sure seems like the Eagles would have to sell lower than they’d like on McKee if they were to move on, but it’s possible they decide to simply bite the bullet on that as he enters the final year of his rookie contract. McKee has been a rumored object of affection for Jets OC Frank Reich, and New York’s backup job remains open.

It was previously reported that the Panthers were getting calls for Andy Dalton. The team then went out and signed Kenny Pickett, making it clear they were moving on from Dalton this offseason. Getting even a seventh-round pick in return for Dalton is mildly impressive for Panthers GM Dan Morgan. After the trade, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo insisted, “Tanner McKee firmly locked into the No. 2 spot behind Jalen Hurts.” That would be a bit odd given that the Eagles just sought out Dalton, though they did carry three quarterbacks on their roster last year.

Entering the final year of his rookie contract, the Day 2 pick would stand to reason to be a potential solution elsewhere if dealt. The Eagles staking a high price on him is normal — this is what Howie Roseman does — but we’d be curious how hard he’d stand on that position given the many needs the Eagles have and how easily he seems to be able to create new backup quarterback solutions.

New Jets OC Frank Reich “has a close relationship with Eagles coach Nick Sirianni” and McKee “fits the physical mold of a Reich QB” per Rosenblatt. Rosenblatt also links the Jets to Geno Smith (if released), Jacoby Brissett and Kirk Cousins. McKee would be an interesting trade target after a couple of spot starts in Week 18 the past few years. He’s entering the final year of his rookie contract in 2026 and would probably cost the Jets at least a Day 2 pick, but it would undoubtedly be a higher-upside play than relying on Smith or Cousins.

Hurts still has three years left on the five-year, $255 million extension he signed in 2023, but according to Silver, “NFL sources familiar with the Eagles’ organizational mindset believe they might draft a quarterback this spring.” This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen the Eagles use a high-end draft pick to rug pull a franchise quarterback already on a lucrative deal. Back in 2020, the team shocked everyone when they used a second-round pick on Hurts to eventually serve as the replacemnent for Carson Wentz, who had just signed a four-year, $128 million contract extension in 2019. Hurts and the Eagles struggled mightily on offense. The switch from offensive coordinator Kellen Moore to Kevin Patullo didn’t go as planned, and the team has already moved to improve on their play-calling situation next season by removing Patullo from that role. It would still be surprising to see the Eagles move on from Hurts after one down season after he lead the team to a Super Bowl title in 2024, but given the Eagles’ history of how they manage the quarterback position, this will remain something to watch leading up to draft day.

McKee put together a middling performance playing with the Eagles’ reserve squad. The Eagles were playing for the No. 2 seed in the NFC and battled to the end against the eliminated Commanders, dropping a one-score game and clinching the No. 3 seed. McKee made his second career start with Philadelphia resting its starters ahead of the playoffs. He threw a 15-yard touchdown to Grant Calcaterra in the second quarter to open scoring but an interception at the goal line later in the quarter would haunt him. He struggled with inaccuracy in the fourth quarter when driving to tie or lead the game, ultimately sailing a fourth down pass out of bounds to end it. McKee has been a rumored trade target at times over the past offseason, but if he does stay put in Philadelphia, he’ll merely be Jalen Hurts’ backup in 2026.

McKee threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns in Philadelphia’s Week 18 win over the Giants at the end of the 2024 season. We’d expect similar numbers against the Commanders in a game that will have a preseason feel. McKee is probably a startable QB2 play in superflex leagues, in a game that may be an audition as trade bait this offseason as there sure seems to be plenty of empty starting roles as compared to the number of rookie quarterbacks available to fill them.