Eagles QB Flexibility Could Be Enticing For Cardinals

When the Eagles added veteran Andy Dalton to a quarterback room that already featured Jalen Hurts and Tanner McKee, it seemed like overkill.

A projected QB3 with 173 career NFL starts is one heck of an insurance policy in case of catastrophe. For Philadelphia GM Howie Roseman, however, the acquisition of Dalton also provided valuable flexibility at the game’s most important position.

That flexibility was furthered when the Eagles selected developmental quarterback Cole Payton in the fifth round of the NFL Draft in April.

Roseman has already indicated he is willing to keep four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster if necessary.

For that to happen, two things would need to occur: no other teams come calling for McKee (who is entering the final year of his rookie contract) or Dalton, and Payton shows enough promise this summer as a Day 3 pick to earn a 53-man roster spot, tough duty with few reps as a QB4.

On-field OTAs haven’t even begun for Philadelphia, yet one organization may already need to address its quarterback situation.

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Arizona Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur talks to the media during rookie mini-camp on May 8, 2026, at the Dignity Health Arizona Cardinals Training Center in Tempe. | Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With Jacoby Brissett, the Arizona Cardinals aren’t exactly populating any “best of” lists at the position in the post-Kyler Murray era. Without the veteran—who has been skipping voluntary workouts in search of a better contract—the depth chart looks very thin.

In addition to Brissett, the Cards' room features ex-Eagles backup Gardner Minshew, rookie Carson Beck, and Kedon Slovis.

Everything in the NFL ultimately comes down to evaluation and projection.

Moving toward the 38-year-old Dalton would best be described as a lateral move at best that doesn’t clearly improve the situation much more than Brissett or even Minshew.

McKee, 26, offers intriguing upside, but there’s no real way of knowing how Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort or new head coach Mike LaFleur view a player with only two career starts in three NFL seasons—both in low-leverage Week 18 games with nothing on the line.

In Philadelphia, the 6-foot-6, strong-armed McKee is highly regarded, and the Eagles’ reputation for developing quarterbacks may carry weight around the league. From a traits standpoint, McKee also looks like a potential fit for the Shanahan-McVay-style offense LaFleur will run in Arizona.

To acquire him, the Cardinals would likely need to offer at least a Day 2 pick—potentially a second-rounder. That feels steep for an unproven commodity, at least until true desperation sets in.

What McKee offers that the more proven names (Brissett, Minshew, and Dalton) don’t is genuine upside—the kind that could elevate an entire organization and inject hope into a fanbase. Of course, Arizona already invested the No. 65 overall pick this year on Beck, who arrived with far stronger pedigree than McKee did out of Stanford in 2023.

It's something to keep an eye on as the spring and summer progesses becouse, despite Roseman's four QB lip service, the Eagles will only want to carry three on the 53-man roster come September.

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