Jalen Hurts out: Why Eagles need to stay the course in 2026, explore QB trade market

news Philadelphia requires to stay concentrated on an NFC East title, check out QB trades and remain on course in 2026

Oct 15, 2026

at 3:28 pm ET

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7 minutes checked out

The two-time protecting NFC East champ Philadelphia Eagles(2-3)will lack face-of-the-franchise quarterback Jalen Hurts for Week 6 versus the Carolina Panthers and potentially beyond.

Philadelphia revealed an ultrasound on Hurts’ calf following a flight back from their London video game versus the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5 exposed a shallow embolism had actually movedThe Eagles ruled him out and stated in a declaration they are figuring out “the appropriate course of treatment” which Hurts’ “health and safety are our highest priority.” There’s a possibility Philadelphia may be without its Super Bowl MVP-winning quarterback for the foreseeable future.

Some groups may take that as an indication to trade away pieces at the trade due date to refill for 2027, however the Eagles can’t do that and should not do that. Philadelphia requires to persevere and battle to contend in 2026. Here is a take a look at why, how that might search for the Eagles, what QB they might look for by means of trade and more.

news Why the Eagles require to persevere

The brief response regarding why the Eagles require to continue their push to compete in 2026 is that they’ve invested excessive cash into their top-end skill. Eagles basic supervisor Howie Roseman made the following substantial financial investments this offseason along the protective line:

• He tattooed two-time Pro Bowl defensive take on Jalen Carter to a four-year, $152 million extension with $106.85 million ensured.
• He extended previous first-round choice defensive take on Jordan Davis on a three-year, $78 million agreement with $64.4 million ensured.
• He traded a 2026 third-round choice and a 2027 third-round choice to the Minnesota Vikings for Pro Bowl edge rush Jonathan Greenard and a 2026 seventh-round choice. Roseman then signed Greenard to a four-year, $98 million extension with $50 million ensured.

After Hurts’ five-year, $255 million agreement, these 3 protective linemen are the Eagles’ next 3 highest-paid gamers in regards to overall agreement worth. The Eagles still have among the more skilled lineups in football, particularly on defense with those 3, previous first-round choice edge rush Nolan Smith Jr., All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun, previous first-round choice linebacker Jihaad Campbell, All-Pro cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, All-Pro cornerback Cooper DeJean and Super Bowl champ cornerback Riq Woolen. Despite the fact that previous NFL Offending Player of the Year running back Saquon Barkley (hamstring) and pass receiver DeVonta Smith (hamstring/toe) are fighting injuries, they’re 2 top-level playmakers when on the field.

This defense is skilled enough to keep the Eagles in nearly every video game. Yes, it’s seemed like the sky is falling after successive losses to the Los Angeles Rams and the Jaguars, in which they blew the lead in the last 2 minutes. There’s a world where they’re simply a couple plays far from being 4-1 rather of 2-3.

news NFC East still up for grabs

This isn’t a circumstance like the Kansas City Chiefs in 2025, who went 6-11 in the middle of an up-and-down year that saw quarterback Patrick Mahomes go down with a torn ACL. The 2026 Eagles are a far more gifted lineup than those Chiefs, and their department is much, much even worse.

Last season, the AFC West department champ Denver Broncos were the AFC’s No. 1 seed with a 14-3 record. The Los Angeles Chargers gutted out an 11-6 Wild Card project with quarterback Justin Herbert playing the function of wonder employee behind a battered offending line.

This season, nobody appears to wish to win the NFC East. Week 5 was a prime example of that. The Dallas Cowboys (2-3) lost 24-16 in your home on “Thursday Night Football” to the formerly winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with Jalon Danielsan undrafted novice quarterback, making his 2nd profession start. Dallas has the NFL’s 31st-ranked overall defense (395.4 overall backyards per video game enabled), last-place run defense (168.4 hurrying backyards per video game enabled), and last-place third-down defense (52.6% third-down conversion rate enabled). If Daniels can march up and down the field on the Cowboys, so can Philadelphia.

The Eagles had the least humiliating loss of the week, a 19-17 defeat versus the AFC South-leading Jaguars in spite of kicking a consent basket with 8 seconds left. Individuals fault coach Nick Sirianni for having the kickoff enter bounds to drain pipes time off the clock. The Jaguars returned the kick 53 lawns to the Eagles’ 39, which established the game-winning, 57-yard basket for Jacksonville.

The NFC East-leading New York Giants (3-1-1) connected 27-27 versus the last-place Washington Commanders (1-3-1) despite the fact that both groups reached field-goal variety in the last 2 minutes of overtime. New york city lacks quarterback Jaxson Dart and All-Pro edge rush Brian Burns for the year due to the fact that of season-ending knee injuries.

A course towards a 3rd straight department title and a home championship game in the opening round of the postseason is still well within reach.

news Sirianni’s requirement is expensive, and he requires to reveal he can adjust the offense

Sirianni’s 67-33 profession record, consisting of the playoffs, is connected for the fifth-best record in the very first 100 video games by an NFL head coach given that the 1970 AFL/NFL merger, per CBS Sports Research. Philadelphia has actually made the playoffs every year under his watch, consisting of winning the NFC two times and winning Super Bowl LIX.

After the existing three-game losing streak the Eagles are on, which started with a lifeless “Monday Night Football” defeat to the Case Keenum-led Chicago Bears, Sirianni is under fire. His background is on the offending side of the ball, however the Eagles are bottom 10 in the whole league in the following metrics: scoring offense (18.4 points per video game, 29th), overall offense (262.2 overall lawns per video game, 31st) and hurrying offense (91.6, connected for 23rd).

The issue seems that Sirianni isn’t letting brand-new offending planner Sean Mannion completely execute his plan. Mannion pertained to Philadelphia after investing last season as the Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach under Matt LaFleur. He likewise bet Sean McVay and the Rams and Kevin O’Connell and the Minnesota Vikings throughout his nine-season playing profession.

Mannion is a branch off the Shanahan-McVay training tree, which tends to have offenses that show heavy dosages of movement, quarterbacks lining up under center and play-action death. The plan desires the search for runs and passes to appear the exact same to defenses. That method, the quarterback ought to have the ability to quickly run an offered play as called and after that make the most of a defense that can’t inform what’s coming.

In Mannion’s offense under Sirianni, the Eagles are simply typical in movement rate (57.8%, 13th in the NFL) while ranking bottom-five in under-center rate (31.1%, 28th) and dead last in play-action rate (16.7%). Running the Shanahan-McVay offense without its core staples resembles attempting to play computer game without plugging the console’s HDMI cable into the television: It’s not going to work.

As odd as it might sound, losing Hurts and having a three-game losing streak (connected for the longest under Sirianni), might produce the desperation needed for Sirianni to let Mannion open his whole playbook.

news Eagles must browse the QB trade market and/or trip with Tanner McKee

It definitely makes good sense for Roseman to get the phone and call around the league to see what top-flight backup quarterbacks are up for grabs. The issue is that a lot of the NFL’s more skilled backup quarterbacks bet fellow NFC competitors.

The 5-0 San Francisco 49ers most likely will not trade Mac Jones to the Eagles. The very same opts for the 5-0 Minnesota Vikings and previous Philadelphia starter Carson Wentz, and the safeguarding Super Bowl champ Seattle Seahawks (3-2) aren’t delivering Drew Lock out east either. No other way the Green Bay Packers (3-2) part with Tyrod Taylor to assist Philadelphia.

A reasonable one-season target might be Cincinnati Bengals backup quarterback Joe Flacco, an alum of Audubon High School simply over 7 miles down the roadway from Lincoln Financial Field (the home of the Eagles). Flacco is 41 years of ages, however the ex-Super Bowl MVP showed he can be a consistent stand-in when required. He blew up for 342 lawns passing and 3 goals on 31-of-47 death in a 33-31 “Thursday Night Football” triumph over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 7 last season. He followed up that effort by going toe-to-toe with Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears in Week 9, tossing for a career-high 470 backyards, 4 passing goals and 2 interceptions in a narrow defeat. He is really comfy just getting the ball to his playmakers and letting them do the rest at this age.

If Cincinnati will not part with its Joe Burrow injury insurance coverage strategy, then it’s worth seeing what backup quarterback Tanner McKee can do. The 26-year-old sixth-round choice from the 2023 NFL Draft was a four-star hire coming out of high school before an objective journey paused his football profession for 2 years.

McKee just has 2 profession begins, both in Week 18 of the last 2 seasons. At the end of the 2024 routine season, he finished 27 of his 41 tosses for 269 backyards and 2 goals in a 20-13 win over the New York Giants. Last season, he resisted Washington, finishing simply 21 of 40 tosses for 241 backyards, a goal and an interception in a 24-17 defeat.

With McKee, Flacco, or possibly another veteran at quarterback, the Eagles have adequate high-end, highly-paid skill– together with sky-high expectations– for Philadelphia to continue its pursuit of a 3rd straight NFC East department title. The remainder of the department is almost bold the Eagles to come take their crown. Whenever Hurts can return is a circumstance to deal with when the group has more info. Up until then, Philadelphia must stay complete steam ahead in 2026.