November 04, 2026
Geoff Burke/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Tanner McKee sacked by the Commanders (and also by the Eagles).
The Philadelphia Eagles are changing their QB2 for the second time this season, as Tanner McKee is being benched in favor of Joe Milton, per a report from ESPN.
For those of you who don't closely watch the Eagles' depth roster moves, they signed Milton to their 53-man roster from the Dallas Cowboys' practice squad 18 days ago.
Milton was a New England Patriots sixth-round pick in 2024. He played in one game for the Patriots in 2024, a Week 18 matchup against the Buffalo Bills that eliminated the Patriots' chances at the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft. In that game Milton completed 22 of 29 passes for 241 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, and a rushing TD.
He was traded a few months later along with a seventh-round pick to the Cowboys for a fifth-round pick. In 2025, Milton appeared in four games. He completed 15 of 24 passes for 183 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INTs. He ran 5 times for 50 yards.
Milton is 6'5, 236 pounds, and he has a cannon for an arm. From a pure physical traits perspective, Milton is as impressive as any quarterback in the NFL.
However, his game is unrefined, and he is already 26 years old because he spent six years in college at Michigan and Tennessee. His scouting report coming out of college, via Lance Zierlein:
Rare physical specimen with the proverbial "arm talent to make all the NFL throws," but he's prevented from doing so by a lack of timing, accuracy and touch. Milton is gifted with a cannon for a right arm and can throw the ball as hard or as far as you want. His fastballs are often inaccurate and difficult to catch for moving targets, and he was wildly inconsistent locating his deep throws. He can elude pressure, extend plays and put jaw-dropping highlights on tape, but he's never been able to mature his game from splashy to consistent. He's primarily a single-side reader who struggles to improvise with his eyes. The physical ingredients could get him drafted on Day 3, but his lack of development over six seasons discourages his projection.
Here are some of those aforementioned highlights from his final season at Tennessee:
It's been a weird, wild season at quarterback for the Eagles.
During training camp, none of the Eagles' backup quarterbacks looked good, and Andy Dalton "won" the QB2 job over Tanner McKee.
During the Eagles' loss to the Chicago Bears Week 3, Jalen Hurts was hit hard, and was forced into the medical tent to check for a concussion. While he was being tested, play resumed with Dalton subbing in. Saquon Barkley then had a 14-yard run down to the 1-yard line, where the Eagles had 1st and Goal from the 1.
Rather than try however many Tush Pushes it took to get in the end zone with Dalton under center, the Eagles tried two runs with Barkley, which lost yardage. On 3rd down, with Hurts still waiting for the results of his concussion testing, Dalton threw an INT.
Prior to the Eagles' loss to the Rams, Dalton was demoted to QB3, and McKee promoted to QB2.
In Week 5, Hurts was diagnosed with a superficial blood clot in his leg. The team then allowed him to board a transcontinental flight to London, play in a game, and then take another transcontinental flight home, after which he was diagnosed with 'deep vein thrombosis' (DVT), and bilateral pulmonary emboli (blood clots in the lungs), ending his season.
McKee then started the next three games, all of which were against teams with losing records, and all of which resulted in at least two-score losses.
The Eagles have now turned to Milton to try to either right the ship, or maybe just see what's got?
On Monday, Nick Sirianni said that McKee would remain the starter.
"Tanner's our guy," Sirianni said. "We're not making any changes there."
Apparently not.
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