Philly Front Office

The big non-story of last week was the clamoring for the Eagles to bench Jalen Hurts in favor of Tanner McKee. It was pure, poisonous slop turned out by the toxic Philly media. The narrative ignored the talent and accomplishments of Hurts, the inexperience of McKee, the financial situation of the Eagles, and everything we know about Howie Roseman. The reality is that not only was benching Hurts NEVER going to even be considered, but Tanner McKee getting traded is exponentially more likely.

Wait, why would we trade McKee? For starters (delightful pun), McKee will be entering the final year of his rookie contract. This is the ideal time to either lock up a player with an extension or trade him to someone willing to do the same.¹ There is a strong belief within the Eagles and around the NFL that McKee is a starting caliber QB, just not in Philadelphia. This isn’t even like a Jordan Love heir apparent situation with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay or the Patriots drafting Jimmy Garoppolo and Tom Brady simply refusing to decline. Jalen Hurts is 27 years old, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, and not only under contract but likely getting an extension soon. If McKee is going to be a starter, he needs to be somewhere else to reach that destiny.

Where might that be? Before we get to that question, we need to know what McKee might cost. At the minimum, the Eagles would take a 2nd round pick for him, but they are probably looking for more. I’ve written about it before, but the Eagles QB factory pops out 2nd round picks for their backups like an assembly line. McKee probably has a bit more value than Kevin Kolb and AJ Feeley though. Considering the Eagles are nearly locked into the #3 seed in the NFC, there is a good chance we see McKee in the final game against Washington. If he balls out, this could go to two 2nds or even a 1st round pick.

July 28, 2011: Kevin Kolb and the Eagles QB Factory

Of course, teams will look to the NFL Draft first. Fernando Mendoza has a good chance of going #1 overall. Dante Moore and Ty Simpson may go in the Top 10. Then there’s a gap. 6 teams need a QB, but only 3 are available.

Let’s rank the possible fits:

6. Cleveland Browns

The Browns QB situation is one HELL of a mess. Deshaun Watson will still be on the books next year with a cap hit of $80m. Releasing him, even as a post June-1 cut, leaves an $80m dead cap hit in 2026 and $50m more in 2027. Yikes! That’s a catastrophe. Do they really want to throw more money at the QB position now? I mean no one spends bad money like the Browns, but still. Their real question is whether they want to give Shedeur Sanders a real chance next year or not. Cleveland is likely going to have a top 5 pick in this draft, but maybe try to build up the rest of this barren roster first guys.

5. Las Vegas Raiders

Few teams have less going for them than the Raiders. Their offseason was atrocious and the regular season has been even worse. They willfully gave up picks and money for Geno Smith who looks like one of the worst QBs in the league. If any team needs a FULL teardown and rebuild it is Las Vegas. Luckily for them, they have a legit chance at the #1 pick (assuming they can lose to the Giants in 2 weeks). That being said, they have never shown the patience or ability to walk that path. While they should probably go for Mendoza, drafting an elite defender (like Rueben Bain or Avril Resse) or trading down for more picks then gifting the Eagles that juicy #33 pick for McKee might be a better option that fits their style. Plus, who better to give McKee a 3/$100m contract than Chucky?

Worst Front Office Series: The Raiders’ Plan

4. New York Jets

Of all teams who could possibly pick a QB early in the Draft, the Jets have to be most likely. The team has gone with Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor this year…willingly! This is the least talented team in the NFL. What do you get the team that has nothing? A QB. Unfortunately, they may have won too many games. They are currently sitting 5th and will probably miss out on Mendoza. Beat the Saints this week and you can count out Dante Moore too. Ty Simpson might be way too Zach Wilson for Jets fans. The Jets have a surplus of draft picks though thanks to unloading all the talent from their roster, including their own #36-ish and Dallas’s 46-ish selections. If they miss out on the top QBs, McKee could be a legitimate fallback option assuming he hasn’t been traded already. Plus, the Jets love them some former Eagles.

3. Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals have a big Kyler Murray problem. He is clearly no longer in the long term plans of the franchise and will not be the QB next year. Hell, he has even talked about picking up a baseball again. Trading him would be their best option for both cap and asset reasons, but he will cost his new team $40m. Is that something anyone would be interested in? Doubt it. That means they are on the hook for between $47m in 2026 and another $7m in 2028. Technically, they could restructure him and get that a little more evenly spread if they want to. Anyway…

Due to Strength of Schedule, the Cardinals will have the worst selection of the 3 or 4 win teams and are looking at a Top 5-10 pick. They might miss out on their next QB. However, the Cardinals spent last summer. With solid drafting lately and a young WR in desperate need of a good QB, they may prefer to go with the more experienced QB rather than a rookie. Jonathan Gannon was with the Eagles for McKee’s rookie season, so there is a connection too. They have the 37th pick and the Eagles could put that to good use.

2. New Orleans Saints

The Saints plan this season was to bottom out and draft Arch Manning #1. Not only has Manning not followed the plan, but neither has New Orleans. Kellen Moore walked into a dreadful situation when he took the Saints coaching gig, probably the worst in the league. Instead of being sad about it, the Saints have played hard and have now won two in a row with 3 winnable games remaining on the schedule (Jets, Titans, Falcons). Their possible #1 pick dreams turned into Top 10 and now probably Top 15.

They drafted Tyler Shough and he’s been fine. Might that mean they wait another year on Manning with Shough as their stop-gap? While tanking one year is already tough, two in a row probably won’t happen. This team plays hard under Kellen Moore too, despite having very little talent. Unfortunately, they also do not have a lot of draft picks. Their 2nd round pick is looking like it will be in the mid-40s and that isn’t going to get it done. Throwing in a mid-70’s 3rd rounder as well would be nice, but that eliminates one of the Saints’ best ways to add to the team. The wild card here though is Moore who coached McKee last year in Philly. If any team on this list knows what McKee is capable of it would be him. Could they dial up a 2026 2nd plus conditional 2027 2nd?

1. Pittsburgh Steelers

Since Ben Roethlisberger retired in 2021 they’ve had the following starting QBs: Kenny Pickett (24 starts), Aaron Rodgers (12), Russell Wilson (11), Mitch Trubisky (7), Justin Fields (6), and Mason Rudolph (4). Yikes! Pickett was the only guy that came as part of some kind of plan, but he was over drafted in one of the weakest QB crops of all time. They can’t keep doing this, right? What are they going to do this time, sign Kyler Murray when Arizona releases him? Kirk Cousins? It is possible that Rodgers comes back, but that’s just kicking the can again.

With DK Metcalf signed to a big deal and an older defense, drafting a rookie is probably not the best move either (just ask Minnesota). Not to mention, they are probably going to be picking around the 15-20 range (as always) and may not be in position to draft one of the top guys. They still have their 2nd round pick though, plus an extra 3rd from Dallas. Maybe the Eagles could push for that mid-first rounder? Maybe they would be up for two Day 2 picks? Both seem about right. Based on everything, they seem like the most likely to swing this kind of deal.

1. An acquiring team can use the final season to smooth over future cap hits on an extension ↩︎