It didn't take long in Tanner McKee's career to know that the Philadelphia Eagles had something in their former sixth-round pick.
A quarterback out of Stanford, McKee has been a career backup to this point in his journey, but has shown bright spots in training camp, preseason, and late regular-season action.
As he enters the 2025 season as the immediate backup to Jalen Hurts, one reporter has already seen an improvement in McKee. … One that some think could make him a potential trade candidate soon.
"McKee is No. 2 for the first time and sure looked the part," NBC's Rueben Frank said. "He just throws the football so accurately and with some serious zip. And he has the ability to diagnose coverages so quickly and fire. Based on what we saw last year against the Cowboys and Giants and the confidence he’s playing with now, I’d have total confidence in McKee if he has to play meaningful games."
If McKee is able to follow up his first start last year with a good preseason, the Eagles may get several offers for the former sixth-rounder. It's why they drafted Kyle McCord in the sixth round in April's draft - to prepare for McKee's eventual departure.
The more McKee dominates OTAs and practices, the more obvious it is that the Eagles have found an excellent backup quarterback and borderline starter who can play at the NFL level.
Trade all of that away?
And that isn't easy to move away from if you are a team like the Eagles who understand the importance of a backup quarterback.