Bringing in Andy Dalton Was a Mistake, One Howie Roseman Admitted When He Cut Him

Andy Dalton was a mistake. Right from the very start, trading a seventh-round pick for the veteran quarterback just seven months ago made little sense then and even less now after general manager Howie Roseman admitted to the error by cutting Dalton before he was able to get on a plane to London for Week 5.

Why it took so long, only Roseman knows. Why he did it in the first place, only he knows.

The Eagles already had a capable backup in Tanner McKee and you knew they were going to take one in the draft after the QB they took in the 2025 draft, Kyle McCord, fled to Green Bay and then was traded to the Miami, where he serves as the backup to Malik Willis on the still-winless Dolphins.

And Roseman did, selecting Cole Payton in the fifth round. But it gets weirder.

The Eagles allowed Dalton and McKee to battle to be the backup. McKee, who is in the final year of his contract, was a good soldier about the battle, noting that every year you have to compete for your job.

Tanner McKee should have been Jalen Hurts' backup from the start

The question of who Jalen Hurts’ top backup would be was a topic all summer. Head coach Nick Sirianni allowed it to remain an issue—and a distraction to a point—by not naming the backup even after the 53-man roster was set. It wasn't until the morning of the season opener that there was any clarity on who would be the No. 2.

Even the decision to keep four quarterbacks on the 53-man-roster was strange, especially because they had to part ways with Cam Latu, Cameron Williams, and others who had a better chance of helping this team than Dalton.

But they didn’t want to cut Payton and try to get him to the practice squad because they were apparently afraid another team would poach him.

Dalton’s resume was longer than McKee's. He had played in 179 games, with 169 starts, over 15 years. The Eagles were his sixth team. He threw one pass in his short stint in Philly. A Bears rookie safety intercepted it in the end zone.

The Eagles drafted McKee. They knew more about him from being up close with him than Dalton. McKee was a sixth-round pick in 2023. He made two starts, going 1-1. He played in six games and threw five touchdowns to just one interception.

It was a strange thing to watch him have to fight for his job. The Eagles could have saved a seventh-round pick next year and not traded for Dalton.

Granted, neither looked good this summer, and now Payton is an injury to Hurts and another one to McKee from being a starter. The way this season has gone, with one injury after another to key players, would it surprise anyone if that scenario eventually plays out?

Still, it was the wrong move, and a weird one to bring in Dalton. At least Roseman admitted it, even if it took four weeks of the regular season for him to do it.

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