Philadelphia Eagles Eye Tanner McKee Trade to Steelers or Packers

The Philadelphia Eagles are expected to trade quarterback Tanner McKee, with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, and Los Angeles Rams emerging as the most likely destinations as of April 6, 2026. The move stems from Philadelphia’s recent acquisition of veteran Andy Dalton from the Carolina Panthers, a deal that crowded the Eagles’ quarterback room and left McKee without a clear roster role.

McKee had been penciled in as Jalen Hurts’ backup heading into the offseason. Dalton’s arrival flipped that math overnight. Now the Philadelphia Eagles brass faces a direct roster question: carry a 38-year-old veteran as your third quarterback, or flip a young arm for draft capital?

Why the Philadelphia Eagles Acquired Andy Dalton

The Eagles pulled the trigger on the Dalton deal by trading with Carolina. That transaction raised eyebrows because McKee was already slotted as the No. 2 quarterback behind Hurts. Dalton brings 15-plus years of starting experience, but his value as a third-stringer is debatable at age 38. That tension is pushing McKee toward the exit door.

The Athletic’s Zach Berman made his position clear, writing that carrying “a 38-year-old Dalton as the third quarterback” does not make roster sense. Berman also noted that “quarterback chairs are quickly filling up” around the league, which adds urgency to any deal. Philadelphia is not carrying three quarterbacks out of sentiment.

Roster construction logic favors the trade. The Philadelphia Eagles have a track record of treating depth positions as moveable assets. A young arm like McKee — one with developmental upside and enough preseason tape to attract interest — fits the profile of a piece you move for a future pick rather than let ride the bench. Cap space freed by a McKee deal could be redirected toward the defensive line or a wide receiver depth piece.

Based on available data, McKee’s cap number is modest. His trade value likely comes in the form of a mid-to-late-round future pick rather than anything splashy. A pick is still a pick for a franchise that builds through the draft the way the Eagles do. Across recent backup quarterback trades, teams have rarely surrendered more than a fifth- or sixth-round selection for a player with fewer than 10 career starts — and McKee fits squarely in that market tier.

Where Does Tanner McKee Land? Steelers, Packers, or Rams

Three franchises stand out as realistic trade partners: Pittsburgh, Green Bay, and Los Angeles. Each organization has a quarterback depth need or a developmental void that McKee could fill, and all three carry the draft assets to make a minor deal work without disrupting their own offseason plans.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have cycled through starters and backups for two-plus years, still searching for a dependable No. 2 who can develop into something more. McKee’s size and arm talent fit the physical profile that Pittsburgh’s coaching staff has historically favored. Green Bay, meanwhile, has a long institutional history of investing in backup quarterbacks — the Packers developed Aaron Rodgers behind Brett Favre for three full seasons before he ever started a regular-season game, and that developmental patience is baked into the organization’s culture.

The Los Angeles Rams present a different angle. Head coach Sean McVay runs a scheme that demands a backup capable of executing pre-snap manipulation and motion-heavy concepts. McKee’s college background at Stanford suggests he can handle that cognitive load. Of the three destinations, the Rams may offer the clearest path to genuine playing-time development if starter Matthew Stafford were to miss any time.

Key Developments in the Eagles’ Quarterback Shuffle

• Andy Dalton was acquired via trade from Carolina, not as a free agent — meaning the Philadelphia Eagles gave up assets, however minor, to bring him in.
• Berman’s report framed the McKee trade expectation as a matter of roster logic rather than any performance issue with the young quarterback.
• Quarterback rooms across the NFL are “quickly filling up,” narrowing the window for McKee’s market before teams lock in their own depth signings.
• McKee’s original depth-chart designation was as Hurts’ direct backup — a slot now occupied by Dalton, dropping McKee one full position down the roster.
• The Eagles have used late-round draft picks to find contributors at multiple positions over the past four seasons, reinforcing why even a sixth-round return on McKee fits the front office’s volume-over-prestige draft philosophy.

What This Means for the Philadelphia Eagles Going Forward

Philadelphia’s quarterback depth chart, assuming a McKee trade goes through, would settle into a two-man room: Hurts as the clear starter, Dalton as the veteran safety net. Several Super Bowl-caliber rosters operate that way through most of the offseason before adding a third quarterback on a futures contract closer to training camp. The Philadelphia Eagles are not unusual in that approach.

Head coach Nick Sirianni and general manager Howie Roseman have consistently kept the roster aggressive and lean rather than stockpiling bodies at low-value spots. Trading McKee for even a sixth-round pick continues a draft strategy the front office has executed across multiple offseasons. Roseman has shown a willingness to move picks up and down the board, and even a late-round return on McKee gives him one more chip heading into the 2026 NFL Draft.

One counterpoint worth raising: McKee could serve real value if Hurts were to miss time with an injury. Dalton, at 38, is not a long-term insurance policy. Trading McKee leaves Philadelphia with zero developmental quarterback depth — a genuine roster vulnerability, even if the front office views it as an acceptable short-term risk. That tension between cap efficiency and positional insurance is one the Eagles must resolve before the regular season.

The broader draft strategy implications extend beyond the quarterback room. Whatever pick Philadelphia recovers in a McKee deal feeds back into a draft class where the Eagles have historically been aggressive movers. That is the real story here — not just one backup quarterback changing addresses, but the Eagles keeping their roster fluid while the rest of the NFC East tries to catch up.

Jake Whitmore

Jake Whitmore is a small-town Texas reporter who worked his way up from covering Friday night high school football to the NFL. With over nine years in sports journalism, Jake writes like he is talking to fans at a tailgate -- direct, passionate, and full of the enthusiasm that makes football Sundays special. He covers game previews, roster moves, and the fan perspective on every major NFL storyline.