Eagles Trade for Sam Howell: What Does It Mean?

The Philadelphia Eagles shook up their QB room with a trade on Sunday morning. After Tanner McKee suffered a mysterious finger injury during practice, there were concerns about the QB2 situation heading into Week 1.

Eagles GM Howie Roseman alleviated those concerns by trading with the Minnesota Vikings for QB Sam Howell. Philadelphia traded a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2026 seventh-round pick to Minnesota for Howell and a 2026 sixth-round pick.

While Howell’s arrival helps Philadelphia’s situation at QB2 for Week 1, it raises more questions about the future of the team’s other QBs. Yet according to Brooks Kubena of The Athletic, McKee’s finger injury is considered minor and he isn’t expected to be placed on injured reserve.

Therefore, the logical explanation for this trade is that the Eagles didn’t like what they saw from both Kyle McCord and Dorian Thompson-Robinson during training camp and preseason action. Especially not enough to potentially rely on one of them as QB2 to begin the regular season while McKee recovers.

With final cuts approaching, my guess is that both McCord and “DTR” will be waived. If either player clears waivers, Philadelphia could then opt to sign one of them to the practice squad and let them develop there instead of occupying a spot on the 53-man roster.

It wouldn’t be uncommon to see Roseman waive a rookie that was just selected in the sixth round of the NFL Draft. Philadelphia waived Dylan McMahon in 2024 and JaCoby Stevens in 2021 after both players were selected in the sixth round during those same years.

While McKee’s finger injury won’t reportedly warrant a stint on IR, it does seem like he’s in jeopardy of missing at least one game. In the meantime, Howell will provide the Eagles with a competent QB2 that has started 18 games in the NFL.

Howell is in the final year of his rookie contract and will be an unrestricted free agent in 2026. That’s also an important factor in this deal since Roseman loves to play the compensatory pick game.

If Howell is forced into action during the upcoming season and plays well, it could result in him landing a decent contract in 2026. The Eagles would obviously benefit from any deal that would net the team a compensatory pick in the 2027 NFL Draft for Howell.

While Howell underwhelmed in his only season as the full-time starting QB of the Washington Commanders in 2023, he did show flashes at times. Ironically, two of Howell’s best performances in the NFL were against his new team:

• In Week 4 of the 2023 season in Philadelphia, Howell completed 29-of-41 passes (70.1%) for 290 yards, 1 TD and 0 INTs. He also added six rushes for 40 yards on the ground.

• In Week 8 of the 2023 season against the Eagles, Howell completed 39-of-52 passes (75%) for 397 yards, 4 TDs and 1 INT.

Despite his inconsistent play in Washington, it’s clear that Howell has talent. He offers a significantly higher floor than both McCord and “DTR,” which is exactly why this trade was made ahead of Week 1.

Following the trade, there were a few people that believed the deal could mean that McKee is on the move. But that simply wouldn’t make any sense and doesn’t seem like a possibility.

McKee is clearly Philadelphia’s QB2 and this move is more of an indictment on the performance of McCord and Thompson-Robinson. If either player looked like a competent option at QB2 while McKee recovers, this trade likely wouldn’t have happened.

Howell will serve as a competent stopgap option at backup QB until McKee is ready to go. Once McKee is fully healthy, he’ll return to his role as QB2 and Howell will move to QB3.

McKee has two years remaining on his rookie contract and I don’t see him realistically being traded in 2025. Given how much Roseman values backup QBs, McKee is too valuable to move at this point.

When McKee is on the final year of his rookie contract in 2026, that’s a different discussion. If the Eagles feel like they would get more value in a trade than they would from a compensatory pick in 2028, I could see Roseman trading McKee at that point.

Right now, the Eagles are just going to enjoy having arguably the best QB room in the NFL. After acquiring Howell, it’s safe to say that the “quarterback factory” is back to running smoothly in the City of Brotherly Love.