According to several reports, the Philadelphia Eagles are trading QB Kenny Pickett to the Cleveland Browns for QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a fifth-round pick.
The most noteworthy takeaway from this move is that 2024 QB3 Tanner McKee will now be the Eagles' QB2 behind Jalen Hurts.
Pickett was a first-round pick of the Steelers in 2022, where he had a 14-10 record. After the start of free agency in 2024, the Eagles made something of a surprise move when they traded a third-round pick in 2024 and a pair of seventh-round picks in 2025 for Pickett and a fourth-round pick.
Pickett relieved Hurts during the Eagles' Week 16 loss to the Washington Commanders. He did some good things, but he probably did more bad things (as shown here). After the loss, there was a lot of hand-wringing locally over what the Eagles needed to do to hide Pickett's deficiencies to beat the Cowboys the following week.
But Pickett was much better against the Cowboys than he was in Washington. Before getting knocked out of the game with an injury to his ribs, Pickett completed 10 of 15 passes for 143 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, and a QB rating of 119.6. He was poised and accurate.
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After Pickett left with his injury, QB3 Tanner McKee came in and threw dimes. He finished 3-for-4 for 54 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs, and a QB rating of 156.2. McKee has had stellar showings in each of the last two Eagles preseasons, and he was ready to play when he got his opportunity in a real game.
McKee then started in the Eagles' meaningless Week 18 game against the Giants, and picked up where he left off the previous week, completing 3 of 3 passes for 48 yards and a TD pass on the Eagles' first drive. At that point in the game, his career numbers were as follows: 6 of 7 for 102 yards, 3 TDs. McKee cooled off a bit as the game progressed, but he did enough to pick up a win in his first career start, further showing that he was deserving of a promotion.
Thompson-Robinson is now presently the QB3. He has five career NFL starts, and a 1-4 record. He has 1 career TD pass, and 10 INTs, so I wouldn't completely rule out the possibility of the Eagles selecting a quarterback on Day 3 of the draft.
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