Getty
Quarterback Tanner McKee of the Philadelphia Eagles.
The upcoming season is likely to determine, in large part, the immediate future of JJ McCarthy’s NFL tenure and perhaps the balance of his entire career, so who the Minnesota Vikings bring in alongside him (and how they bring that player in) is of significant consequence.
Ben Solak of ESPN wrote on Tuesday, February 10 that the Vikings profile as a team that could make a “surprise” trade for a young quarterback looking for his first real shot in the league, or perhaps a talented one in need of a second chance.
“[Kirk] Cousins is the obvious choice because he has scheme familiarity from his time in Minnesota as coach Kevin O’Connell’s starter,” Solak wrote. “But O’Connell is a big believer in quarterback development, and I would not be surprised if he wants to go for a younger player to challenge McCarthy’s seat not just in 2026 but also beyond. Every toolsy young passer who can operate from the pocket (Tanner McKee, Anthony Richardson, Will Levis, etc.) is on my radar for a surprise Vikings trade.”
Tanner McKee Not Yet as Well Known as Players Like Anthony Richardson, Will Levis
GettyQuarterback Anthony Richardson of the Indianapolis Colts.
The slightly more than casual NFL fan probably knows plenty about Richardson’s explosive arm and leg talent, as well as how he crashed out in Indianapolis over the last three seasons following the Colts selecting him No. 4 overall in 2023.
Levis, another big arm, fell to the early second round of that draft, but spent a couple years as the starter for the Tennessee Titans before the No. 1 pick last April dropped Cam Ward in Nashville and rendered Levis and his turnover problems an afterthought.
Not everyone will necessarily know about McKee, the backup QB for the Philadelphia Eagles who has played behind Jalen Hurts for the past three years. Philly drafted McKee in the sixth round out of Stanford in 2023, but with just one year left on his rookie contract and heading toward his age-26 campaign, the pure pocket-passer may be about to explode onto the NFL scene.
NFL Experts Raving About Tanner McKee as He Enters Final Year of Rookie Contract
GettyPhiladelphia Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee.
League insiders like Solak and Mina Kimes, his ESPN colleague, have been raving about McKee’s potential for a couple of years now.
“McKee has been excellent in very limited action,” Kimes said during a podcast on December 9. “The bigger decision is not whether to move [from Hurts] to McKee, because I don’t think they will. It’s whether they trade McKee if they get offers for him.”
McKee impressed during preseason action and has been solid when on the field during the regular season. In six total games played over the past two years, including two starts (1-1), McKee has completed 61.4 percent of his passes for 597 yards, five TDs and one INT.
“My takeaway was just that he looked like a vet. He looked so accurate,” Kimes said of McKee in August. “What you are getting is a guy who could probably execute just about every offense in the league.”
McKee is probably gettable for a third-round pick and Minnesota has two, Nos. 82 and 97, in the upcoming draft.
Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group’s family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible
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