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Howie Roseman explains why he kept 4 QBs on Eagles roster
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- Howie Roseman explains why he kept 4 QBs on Eagles roster
Howie Roseman explains why he kept 4 QBs on Eagles roster originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Eagles trimmed their roster to 53 players on Sunday and one of the biggest decisions came at quarterback.
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They kept all four.
Jalen Hurts, Andy Dalton, Tanner McKee and Cole Payton are all on their initial roster.
"The most important position in sports," Eagles GM Roseman said on Monday afternoon. "I feel like all those guys have value for our team. Obviously, some is short-term value, some is long-term value when you think about Cole. As we went through the process here, just thought it was the right thing to do for our football team."
The Eagles invested a fifth-round pick on Payton when they drafted him out of North Dakota State and want to develop him. So it seems like the Eagles are viewing this as their three quarterbacks for the 2026 season, plus a developmental player in Payton.
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Is there a chance the Eagles could still trade either Dalton or McKee? Sure, it's still possible. But there's also a chance they go into the regular season with all four quarterbacks.
And they were not the only team to keep four QBs on the roster at final cuts.
"It's just such a valuable position," Roseman said. "From our perspective, last year, obviously we took someone in the [sixth] round (Kyle McCord), let him go. He left our practice squad to go somewhere else, traded for a sixth-round pick. These guys are valuable. They take time to develop at the same time.
"That position is so valuable to this organization over a long period of time. Want to be strong there and think both those guys behind Jalen have value, have shown that over the course of their careers. We kind of take all the information at our disposal to make all these decisions."
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It seems like the Eagles didn't want to miss an opportunity to develop Payton after McCord decided to sign with the Packers in January following his rookie season on the Eagles' practice squad. The Packers just traded McCord to the Dolphins for a future sixth-round pick; McCord is now the backup in Miami.
All summer, there has been a competition between Dalton and McKee to be the backup quarterback behind Hurts.
If the Eagles have made a decision already, Roseman wasn't ready to spill.
"Anything that goes into preparations for Washington, we're going to keep close to the vest," Roseman said. "Certainly that's part of it, the strategy for when we play Washington."
