No general manager in football tinkers with his quarterback room quite like Howie Roseman of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Last offseason, he sent Kenny Pickett to the Cleveland Browns for Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a fifth-round draft pick. The Eagles then added Syracuse QB Kyle McCord in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, only to waive both McCord and Thompson-Robinson in August, and swing another trade with the Minnesota Vikings for Sam Howell.
Browns fans saw a similar movie last offseason. Andrew Berry, who comes from the Roseman tree as Philadelphia’s former VP of football operations, made his own series of bizarre quarterback moves, starting with the trade for Pickett. Cleveland signed Joe Flacco, drafted both Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, and wound up trading Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders and Flacco to the AFC North rival Cincinnati Bengals.
It’s safe to say that Berry is well aware of how Roseman and the Eagles operate, right down to his borderline obsession with adding void years to player contracts. And that’s why Philly’s latest quarterback move should have fans on alert this week.
Roseman made a curious move to acquire 38-year-old veteran Andy Dalton from the Carolina Panthers. The Eagles are sending Carolina a 2027 seventh-round draft pick in the deal, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Dalton had been serving as Bryce Young’s backup for the past three seasons. He could soon be the Eagles' No. 2 behind Jalen Hurts, if Roseman decides to trade young quarterback Tanner McKee in the near future.
The Eagles drafted McKee in the sixth round of the 2023 draft, and he’s since developed into one of the more intriguing backups in the NFL. He’s only made two career starts and six total game appearances, but he’s got a career 95.7 quarterback rating with 597 yards, five touchdowns, one interception, and a 61.4 completion percentage. The former Stanford star is smart, has a big arm, and has excellent size for the position at 6-foot-6, 231 pounds.
Anthony Miller of Inside the Iggles sees the writing on the wall following Philly’s move to acquire Dalton.
“There is a strong possibility that the Eagles could keep Hurts, McKee, and Dalton all on the same team,” Miller wrote, “but Dalton is more of a second-string quarterback in the NFL. More than likely, this could push for more trade talks involving McKee and trying to land a good draft pick for him.”
Tanner McKee could be the missing piece to the Browns’ quarterback room
After passing on adding a quarterback during the initial waves of free agency, the Browns could once again look to both the trade market and draft in an attempt to add competition. They have Deshaun Watson back healthy and an ascending Sanders still in the mix, but the fanbase might revolt if the team simply runs it back with Watson, Sanders, and Gabriel in 2026.
That feels highly unlikely, as both Sanders and Gabriel still have a lot to prove, and Watson is only on the roster right now because of the massive dead money currently baked into his contract; the team’s planning to release him in March of 2027 with a post-June 1 designation, but until then, Watson will be on the team in some capacity.
The Browns’ most likely path is to target a mid-round prospect like Miami’s Carson Beck or Penn State’s Drew Allar this April, but McKee’s situation represents an intriguing alternative. He’s currently on the final year of his rookie contract, scheduled to earn $1.1 million in real cash in 2026, and the Eagles will either need to pay him or look to flip him for a profit this season.
Roseman didn’t draft McKee to groom him as Hurts’ long-term backup. He drafted McKee for the same reason he took another sixth-round stab at McCord last year: To get him in the building, develop him, and potentially build a tradable asset at the most valuable position in sports.
The Browns hold nine selections in April’s draft and another eight in 2027. They have an obvious need at quarterback, and have done business with Roseman and the Eagles in the past. McKee’s reported price tag hasn’t been cheap — a second- or third-round pick, per Miller — but Berry could potentially bring that price down by including Gabriel in a trade.
While it makes more sense on paper to spend a draft pick on a new rookie-scale contract, rather than acquiring McKee entering his age-26 season on an expiring deal, you can only fill your depth chart with so many developmental QBs.
McKee feels like the perfect blend of youth and experience. He wouldn’t command a big payday on a short-term extension, nor would he need to be shoehorned into the starting job. He’d add some veteran depth and real competition for the current guys on the roster.
If they can figure out a trade package that makes sense, the Browns should definitely be making a move for McKee sometime this offseason.