If you want to understand one thing about how the Philadelphia Eagles are run, from the top down, it should be that general manager Howie Roseman loves to make a deal. He understands, innately, that the way elite NFL teams function is to continually evaluate the roster and what every individual player’s value is.
Do they help or hurt the team? Can they be flipped for future assets? Who gets the big money and who doesn’t? Roseman is a master at all of this.
That’s why he should try and swing a trade right now with the Kansas City Chiefs that sends them Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee after Chiefs starter, 3-time Super Bowl champion and 2-time NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL in Week 15.
With Mahomes out for most of, if not all, of 2026, the Chiefs need a competent quarterback to fill in for Mahomes while he’s away â and a cost effective one at that. McKee is under contract for one more year and at just $1.145 million.
The Chiefs have veteran Gardner Minshew playing behind Mahomes right now, but he shouldn’t be an option in 2026. He has a 17-29 overall record and has looked absolutely washed the last few years.
McKee, on the other hand, has looked like a future NFL starter. Instead of getting another year as the backup to Jalen Hurts he could get a whole season (or close) to show NFL teams he’s worth a huge payday.
In return, the Eagles could flip McKee into a 2026 third round pick or a 2027 second round pick, depending how desperate the Chiefs are after having to watch Minshew start the final 3 games of the regular season.
Brady’s Injury Gives Template for Chiefs
While public sentiment seems to be that 2026 will be a lost season for the Chiefs, that doesn’t have to be the case. History tells us something much different.
In the 2008 season opener for the New England Patriots, 7-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady suffered a serious knee injury and missed the rest of the season. Brady was replaced by backup Matt Cassel, who led New England to an 11-5 record, although they missed the playoffs.
Cassel parlayed that one season into a 6-year, $63 million contract with the Chiefs, believe it or not.
For the Chiefs in 2026, there’s a real chance Mahomes could return late in the season. If they have a competent quarterback in his place it could mean Mahomes returns late in the season with his team still in playoff contention. McKee, having shown he can be a legit starter, gets his payday in 2027. Everybody wins.
McKee Surprised at End of 2024 With Play
McKee, 6-foot-6 and 231 pounds, was a sixth round pick (No. 188 overall) out of Stanford in the 2023 NFL draft.
He wowed Eagles fans with his play at the end of the 2024 regular season after Hurts missed most of the final 3 games of the regular season with a concussion and backup Kenny Pickett was also injured.
In his only action so far this season, McKee was 3-for-3 for 33 yards in a 31-0 win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 15. In one start and essentially just one more quarter after Pickett was hurt in 2024, McKee went 2-0 while going 30-of-45 passing for 343 yards, 4 touchdowns and no interceptions.
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