Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has decided who will open the 2026 regular season as the team’s backup quarterback. But Sirianni isn’t telling anyone publicly his choice.
That’s what the head coach explained to reporters Wednesday afternoon.
“We don’t have to make that decision quite yet, or announce that decision for competitive reasons,” Sirianni said to the media. “I don’t want them to be able to study one guy over the other.
“I’m not saying we don’t have an answer of who that is yet. But I just don’t have to share that quite yet publicly.”
Tanner McKee and Andy Dalton competed for the QB2 role behind Jalen Hurts on Philadelphia’s quarterback depth chart. A lot of pundits speculated in August the Eagles would part ways with the loser of the competition.
In a way, Sirianni’s backup quarterback answer Wednesday was still telling. The QB competition is definitely complete. But both McKee and Dalton remain on the roster, and no one outside of the organization knows who will play quarterback if Hurts suffered an injury.
Nick Sirianni Declines to Name Backup QB for Week 1
Sirianni was careful to correct himself. While he wasn’t 100% clear about whether his signal-callers know the pecking order in the quarterback room, he appears to know who will be the team’s QB2 in Week 1.
Presumably, offensive coordinator Sean Mannion would know too. Not knowing wouldn’t allow the offensive play-caller to devise a backup plan in case Hurts suffers an injury during the season opener.
More than likely, McKee and Dalton know too.
But Sirianni only revealed Wednesday that he plans to keep the team’s QB2 a secret publicly as long as possible.
If Sirianni is steadfast on keeping the QB2 job under wraps long-term, the Eagles could dress both McKee and Dalton for Week 1. In that scenario, the NFL will only learn who is Philadelphia’s backup quarterback if Hurts exits.
That strategy, though, would require dressing three quarterbacks. Typically, NFL teams dress two signal-callers and have a third one available in an emergency situation.
Should the Eagles follow that typical plan, Philadelphia’s Week 1 opponent will learn the team’s QB2 just prior to the game when the league announces the inactives list 90 minutes before kickoff.
Andy Dalton, Tanner McKee Offer Eagles Quality QB Depth
Sirianni’s non-answer answer will only add intrigue around the Eagles QB2 situation. But at the end of the day, the team has two quality backups behind Hurts.
Since becoming a starter in 2021, Hurts has never missed more than two games in a season. So the extra quarterback depth might be unnecessary.
But the Eagles have protected themselves from two quarterback injuries with Dalton and McKee both on the active roster.
Dalton, who the Eagles acquired in a trade this offseason, is entering his 16th NFL campaign. He is 84-83-2 in his career as a starter.
McKee has far less experience but more upside. He is 1-1 as a starter in six career NFL appearances.
Sirianni can hide who is his QB2 entering the regular season in part because neither Dalton nor McKee really distinguished themselves during the preseason. So while together they offer quality depth, the hope is either will play much better if they have to replace Hurts during the regular season.
Eagles’ Nick Sirianni Offers Unclear QB2 Statement Before Season Opener