Over the next few weeks, we'll be taking a position-by-position look at which players will likely be back with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2026, and which ones likely won't. We'll start with the quarterbacks.

Regarding the polls below, they are your votes on what you think the Eagles should do, not necessarily what you think they will do. Please think of them more as approval polls for each player.

Jalen Hurts

Hurts' first six seasons with the Eagles have been a bit of a roller coaster ride. 🎢

2020

After being a surprise second-round selection in the 2020 draft when Carson Wentz was still considered a franchise quarterback, Hurts began his career as the Eagles' QB2. However, during Wentz's atrocious 2020 season, Hurts took over as the team's starter. He did at least give the team a little bit of a spark in its final four games. He was even benched in the Eagles' final regular season game against Washington, because he was giving the Eagles too good a chance to win when the team was trying to tank for better draft positioning. 📈

2021

Hurts' first full season as a starter was something of a "tryout" year, and he was OK-ish. The Eagles were a surprise qualifier for the playoffs, but they were easily knocked out in the first round against the Bucs. Hurts proved to be an intelligent, hard-working quarterback with leadership qualities who could make plays with his legs, but had serious flaws as a passer, most notably inaccuracy as well as a lack of refinement within the pocket. He wasn't good enough to stop the team from trying to trade for Deshaun Watson or Russell Wilson during the 2022 offseason. Ultimately, the Eagles settled on giving Hurts a second "tryout" year in 2022. 📉

2022

After trades for Watson and Wilson didn't materialize, Hurts remained the starter. He made drastic improvements, as he was rightfully the MVP runner-up to Patrick Mahomes, with the Eagles going 14-1 (plus 2-1 in the playoffs) in games he started. Including the playoffs, he threw 25 TDs vs. 6 INTs as a passer, and he rushed for 903 yards and 18 TDs, cementing his status as the face of the franchise. He was also arguably the best player on the field during the Eagles' loss to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. He was rewarded thereafter with a $255 million contract. 📈📈📈

2023

Hurts took a step backwards. The Eagles started out 10-1, with six of those wins coming against teams that would eventually make the playoffs. Hurts was squarely in the conversation for league MVP at the time, although even the most novice fans could pretty easily see that he and the team as a whole were not playing nearly as well as the 2022 team that often dominated opponents. From December on, the Eagles abruptly went from a Super Bowl favorite with at least a two-game lead over every other team in the league to one of the worst teams in the NFL.

You can blame the Eagles' terrible defensive personnel, or the offensive scheme, or the absurd in-season change at defensive coordinator, or the play calling, or any number of other things, and you'd be right to do so, but Hurts was fair game as well. His individual performances from December on were not acceptable for a player on a $255 million contract, and he was the leader of a team that suffered one of the more staggering collapses in recent NFL history.

In the aftermath, Hurts' leadership skills — always thought to be the biggest checkmark in his favor — came into question, as did his relationship with the head coach. 📉

2024

Hurts' starting job was obviously never in any sort of peril, but the pressure was back on for him to perform at a high level. His regular season was just OK, especially given that he had about as enviable a situation as any quarterback in the NFL, with a star-studded offensive cast, and arguably the best defense in the league. But whatever your opinions of him were, Hurts turned it on when it mattered most in the playoffs -- particularly in the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl -- and he took home Super Bowl MVP honors. 📈📈📈

2025

Coming off the franchise's second Lombardi Trophy, expectations for the 2025 season were high. The defense certainly pulled its weight, but by the time the season was over, the Eagles had one of the worst offenses in the NFL. Blame whatever you will — the scheme, play calling, predictability, a banged-up offensive line, underperforming and/or unhappy skill players, etc. — but Hurts was part of the problem, too. To be clear, he wasn't the biggest problem or anything close to it, but he did not have a good season, finishing 16th in quarterback EPA (among QBs who played at least 250 snaps).

As we had mentioned throughout the back half of the season, I was told that Hurts did not like having a lot of designed QB runs in the game plan. And sure enough, his rushing attempts per game were way down. He had rushed for over 600 yards each of his previous four seasons, but in 2025, just 421. He did not seem to want to utilize a highly effective part of his skill set, and the rushing offense suffered as a whole.

As a passer, again, it would have been hard for any quarterback to function in an offense that was guilty of all of the following: 

• They were the slowest team in the NFL to get out of the huddle and to the line of scrimmage.

• Pre-snap procedural penalties were a season-long issue.

• They rarely schemed their receivers open for easy throws/catches, and instead relied on their receivers to constantly have to win contested catches.

• Route concepts were remedial at best, as they ran a historic number of hitch routes, complemented by four verts.

Still, a lot of the issues early in Hurts' career — like avoiding the middle of the field, just for one example — resurfaced. 📉

Honestly, the Hurts discourse is exhausting. There are bad-faith arguments made against him, and sometimes, for him. He's a good quarterback. He's also a flawed quarterback.

Hurts is going to be under heavy scrutiny once again in 2026, and as usual, he'll have another new offensive coordinator to work with.

In the past, Hurts has responded when he has been under fire. He has not really had two consecutive down seasons, at least relative to expectations. If he doesn't have a bounce-back season, there are going to be a lot of people Googling "Jalen Hurts contract." But for now, obviously, he's not going anywhere. Stay.

Stay or go: Jalen Hurts

Tanner McKee

McKee got his first taste of real NFL game action when he entered a meaningful Week 17 game against Dallas in relief of an injured Kenny Pickett at the end of the 2024 season. He was terrific, finishing 3-for-4 for 54 yards, two TDs, 0 INTs, and a QB rating of 156.2.

McKee then started in the Eagles' meaningless Week 18 game against the Giants, and picked up where he left off the previous week, going 3/3 for 48 yards and a TD pass on the Eagles' first drive. At that point in the game, his career numbers were as follows: 6/7 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.

We published a review of McKee's performances in those two games following the Giants game. 

As noted within that piece, what stood out about McKee's performances was that he was mentally prepared to play when his number was called, as he had been during preseason games for each of his first three seasons in the NFL.

McKee got some attention on the trade market during the 2025 offseason, but not enough to entice the Eagles to trade him away. He only has one year left on his rookie contract, so there was some real curiosity about how he would play in the Eagles' Week 18 game against the Commanders this season, in that he might raise his value even further with another good performance.

However, he had a disappointing game, completing 21 of 40 passes for 241 yards, a TD, and an INT.

In fairness, McKee was playing with the second-string offensive line and skill position backups. He had DeVonta Smith at his disposal for one quarter, and the offense looked notably better when Smith was in the game. After Smith left, McKee had nothing. So, it's not as if that was going to be an easy game for him. 

McKee can still be a good player, and possibly a starter for another team at some point. It would be silly to make any grand statements about his career based on one game playing with second and third stingers.

That said, expect McKee to be the Eagles' QB2 in 2026, because that game probably ended any hope of some team out there ponying up a high pick for him this offseason.

He's also a very cheap QB2, and the Eagles are going to need cheap players during an offseason in which they are going to have to make some hard decisions at other positions. Stay.

Stay or go: Tanner McKee

Sam Howell

It was revealed near the start of the season that McKee had a finger injury on his throwing hand, and wasn't likely to recover from it by Week 1. So, the Eagles made an insurance trade for Howell, then the Vikings' QB2. The trade: 

When the Eagles made that trade, they hoped that Howell would never have to take snaps for them, and, well, he didn't, at least in 2025. Like, not even in any preseason games.

The Eagles added a quarterback to develop in Kyle McCord in the 2025 draft, but he stunk and didn't make the team. I imagine they'll take another crack at a quarterback in the 2026 draft, and in my opinion, that could be anywhere from Round 2 to Round 7. If that's correct, Howell, a free agent, won't be retained. Go.

Stay or go: Sam Howell

#JimmyVerdict Stay or Go Results

Green = Stay

Red = Go

Blue = Will be back in camp in 2025, but a 53-man roster spot is not a given.

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