The Philadelphia Eagles have an established starting quarterback in Jalen Hurts. Despite some consistency struggles a season ago, he’s still among the top signal callers in the game.
But as we saw last season with several quarterbacks missing huge chunks of time due to injury, having a quality backup is now a necessity.
That’s why Philadelphia pulled off a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers for former first-round bust Kenny Pickett during the spring.
Sure, Pickett struggled big time in his two-year run with Pittsburgh. But we’re talking about a quarterback that was just 25 years old at the time of the trade. After losing Marcus Mariota to the division-rival Washington Commanders, Tanner McKee was the only other realistic QB2 option for Philadelphia.
Fast forward several months, and things are not looking good for Pickett.
“Might be time to have the Tanner McKee over Kenny Pickett discussion,” Philadelphia Eagles insider Eliot Shorr-Parks reported recently. “Would be very curious to see them both get reps with the 1st team offense just to see who does better. It might be McKee.”
That’s certainly not a good tell from someone who has attended Eagles training camp this summer.
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Could the Philadelphia Eagles release Kenny Pickett?
Financially, it would make sense for Philadelphia to retain Pickett as QB3 behind Hurts and McKee. He’s counting $1.9 million against the cap in 2024. If the Eagles were to release the young signal caller, they’d be on the hook for a $4.61 million dead cap hit. Every penny counts at this point on the NFL calendar.
From a roster standpoint, things are a bit different.
Teams will be keeping three quarterbacks on their rosters this coming season. However, the Eagles also have veteran Will Grier on their roster right now. He could technically overtake Pickett on the pecking order.
In his two seasons with Pittsburgh, Pickett threw 13 touchdowns with just as many interceptions in 24 starts. Obviously, he’s not making a great impression in Philly right now.