With Moore returning to school, the top QB prospect many had mocked to us at No. 2 is gone. The draft class is now brutally thin (Fernando Mendoza goes No. 1 to Vegas), and our QB carousel keeps spinning with no clear savior on the horizon. Meanwhile, the Eagles got bounced in the Wild Card and Howie Roseman is in full asset-flipping mode. Tanner McKee (25, 6’6” pocket passer with elite arm strength, velocity, and flashes of starter poise) is the perfect, low-risk steal. Why it’s a straight-up no-brainer: • Young upside, NFL-ready traits: Solid relief/spot starts (e.g., 269 yards/2 TDs in ’24 finale, more action this year). Processes well, steps up in the pocket, delivers to weapons like Garrett Wilson perfectly. Low mistakes, big arm + exactly what we need for competition/stability. • Dirt-cheap contract: Final year of rookie deal - 2026 base ~$1.145M, cap hit $1.19M, dead money tiny (~$46K). Philly can (and will) flip him vs letting him walk for nothing. • Trade cost? Mid-round pick (3rd-5th range). Analysts link Jets as top suitor—Dolphins/Cardinals too, but we need this more. Howie loves deals; with Hurts locked in and no playoff run, McKee’s gone this offseason. • Zero downside, massive upside: One-year rental. He competes/develops in 2026, we can walk away if he doesn’t pan out (minimal cost). Best case? Bridge to 2027 draft or legit long-term piece. Beats reaching in a weak draft or overpaying in FA. Thoughts??
Why the fuck not? Pickings are laughably slim. He also apparently sucked in the last game (overall sample size of his games is small so 1 bad game actually matters), probably will get him for less now.
Willis hits FA and could easily demand something like 2 years/$40M+ (Orlovsky says 40-50M total possible), with a ton guaranteed upfront just like Fields’ deal. We’re already eating a $22M dead cap hit on Fields if we cut him pre-June (or $13M if we spread it post-June). We can’t afford to repeat that mistake with another high-guarantee QB experiment. That’s why a cheap, one-year trade rental like Tanner McKee (dirt-cheap $1.19M cap hit, mid-round pick cost) is the smarter play IMO.
The OP was pretty obviously written with ChatGPT. If you can't be bothered to write it, we shouldn't have to be bothered to read it.
I was going to make a thread about this. Couldn’t agree more. I’d love to see what McKee could do as a starter. He’s the type to take the challenge on full force too and wouldn’t be afraid to come to the Jets but rather be excited!! Our biggest road block would be JD is there and they won’t just give us McKee.. probably would need to overpay
As a prospect I think he is the best back up option out there. He’s tall, strong arm and has had time to sit and wait for his opportunity. Personally I think he would be a better option even if Moore declared. The issue is price. He won’t come cheap. Philly kicked tires on JJ and maybe that might be the window of opportunity. Especially is we take Bain. Trade JJ for McKee straight up.
I don't know shit about McKee, but trading JJ straight up for him? That seems like a lot. JJ will be much better being another year removed from his achilles.
Looklng ahead to 2027. Early Look at the 2027 NFL Draft QB Class: - Dante Moore (Oregon) - Arch Manning (Texas) - Darian Mensah (Duke) - Julian Sayin (Ohio State) - Sam Leavitt (LSU) - LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina) - Brendan Sorsby (Texas Tech) pic.twitter.com/1t7Y2tselc — SleeperCFB (@SleeperCFB) January 14, 2026
It's going to be a wild offseason in Jets land as there will be major roster turnover which is a good thing. Also regarding McKee, the Jets better act quick if he's their guy as they'll have serious competition for him as Miami, Arizona, and the Raiders have all shown interest already. The same can be said for Willis.
I still like Sam Howell. He’s a free agent with a full year starting on a trash team with a terrible offensive line. He’s then took two years to learn within two good organizations. Give him 2 years/$10 million per year.
We gotta do our best to pick the Hofer from that list because it’s gonna be tough. Lots of good QBs in that bunch
Easy to say when I'm not facing a potential "win or else" mandate, but I'm not trading a Day 2 pick for any of these trade options. Willis is the top choice, but based on the amount of QB needy teams, I think he's going to get more than Fields got, and will have better options than the Jets. Yes, you can sell the long term with the Jets thanks to the 2027 pick collection, but for a free agent, the short-term means far more, and well, what are you selling short-term?
That's a good under-the-radar flier and I wonder if it'd even cost that much. Sign me up. Basically let's focus on Eagles backups. McKee might be tricky to pry away, though I'm sure possible. But Sam Howell can definitely be more than a #3 so I'm sure he'll bolt The way receivers got open by the eye test and separation numbers, you don't need special arm talent to run Engstrand's offense effectively. Just a guy who can process quickly and decisively with reasonable accuracy. I mean, look at how this offense looked the one or two games Justin Fields actually played well.
The stock on McKee is a little down after the last game. The Eagles were originally looking for a 2nd from what I've heard. I'm sure teams are inquiring but the Eagles are likely playing hard ball this far out from the draft.
