Who will back up Jalen Hurts when the Eagles host the Washington Commanders on Sunday, Sept. 13, to kick off their 2026 season?
The Eagles delayed publicly revealing their decision when they opted to keep all four of their quarterbacks — Hurts, Andy Dalton, Tanner McKee, and rookie Cole Payton — on the initial 53-man roster Sunday night, and Howie Roseman’s day-after press conference did little to clear up the pecking order behind the starter.
“Anything that goes into preparations for Washington, we’re going to keep close to the vest,” Roseman said when asked if the team had named a No. 2 quarterback.
Why did the Eagles go the unconventional route of keeping all four? The man who coined the term “Quarterback Factory” called it “the most important position in sports” on Monday.
“I feel like all those guys have value for our team,” Roseman said. “Obviously some is short-term value, some is long-term value when you think about Cole. And so as we went through the process here, just thought it was the right thing to do for our football team.”
It’s possible, perhaps even likely, that Roseman shopped Dalton and McKee around over the weekend. There were teams with holes in their depth chart at the position, and while some of them have been filled, a few remain. But considering neither quarterback separated themselves during training camp as the clear No. 2, it’s fair to wonder what kind of value either has on the trade market. Dalton, whom the Eagles acquired for a seventh-round pick in March, is almost 39 and four years removed from being a starter. McKee, 26, has shown flashes but did not have a strong camp and has one year remaining on his rookie contract.
It’s fair to wonder, too, if the Eagles would be comfortable with Payton as the No. 3 right now, which, when combined with the value of their own backups, makes it all the more likely they still have four quarterbacks on the roster by next weekend.
It’s unorthodox, but the Eagles aren’t the only team with four quarterbacks on their active roster right now. The Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Minnesota Vikings all kept four quarterbacks on Sunday, though Minnesota released one on Monday.
The Steelers’ situation is most aligned with what the Eagles have. There’s an obvious starter (Aaron Rodgers), and then a bit of uncertainty behind him. Mason Rudolph figures to be the No. 2, but Pittsburgh has drafted a quarterback in each of the last two seasons and seems to want to continue to develop both players. They drafted Will Howard in the sixth round last year and Penn State’s Drew Allar in the third this year.
Roseman alluded to his own team’s sixth-round pick from last season, Kyle McCord, when talking about the quarterback situation on Monday. McCord struggled in camp last year and the Eagles made a move to acquire Sam Howell as the No. 3. McCord was waived after camp and spent the year on the Eagles’ practice squad. He then left the organization and joined the Green Bay Packers in free agency. But after a solid camp this summer, the Packers flipped him to Miami on Sunday for a 2028 sixth-round pick.
That surely factored into Roseman’s decision-making when it came to Payton, the team’s fifth-round pick, whose athleticism and upside the Eagles covet but who still needs a lot of time to develop after only throwing 282 passes at the collegiate level. Payton had limited reps during training camp and in preseason contests, but the Eagles didn’t want to risk losing him to waivers.
McKee would have had to clear waivers, too, and while Dalton is a vested veteran who isn’t subject to the waiver wire, he would have been free to sign with any team and there’s no guarantee he would have accepted a role on the practice squad.
“These guys are valuable,” Roseman said. “They take time to develop. At the same time, that position is so valuable to this organization over a long period of time. [We] want to be strong there and think both those guys behind Jalen have value, have shown that over the course of their careers, and we kind of take all the information at our disposal to make these decisions.”
Quiet August
For the first time since 2020, an August has come and gone — at least at the time of this writing — without Roseman making a trade. He did try, he said, but couldn’t find a partner.
“With the way that practices went and the games went, there wasn’t an opportunity to do some of the player-for-player trades we like, to get kind of looks at guys just because of where our numbers were,” Roseman said.
“I think you guys know me well enough to know that I like the action and was trying, but it just didn’t make sense for us at the time, we would’ve just been doing it to make a move.”
A reunion with Zach Ertz?
The Eagles kept four tight ends on the initial roster. Dallas Goedert is at the top of the depth chart, and behind him is a group that includes Eli Stowers, Johnny Mundt, and EJ Jenkins. Mundt and Jenkins are blocking specialists while Stowers, this year’s second-round pick, projects as a weapon in the passing game.
But the rookie doesn’t appear to be ready to make an impact with the offense just yet, which could lead Roseman to make a move.
According to a report from PHLY, a reunion with Zach Ertz is “on the table.”
Ertz, who turns 36 in November, is recovering from a season-ending right leg injury and is a free agent. He had rejuvenated his career with the Commanders before suffering the injury in December. Signing him after Week 1 probably would be more palatable given that his contract wouldn’t be guaranteed for the entire season.
Roseman, when asked about Ertz on Monday, didn’t reveal much.
“What an unbelievable player, what an unbelievable person, tremendous respect for him, and at the same time love what we have going in our tight end room, too,” Roseman said. “I would say I’ve talked to Zach over a period of time, obviously rehabbing his ACL, and the relationship [is] just like our former players who have been here.”
