With Jalen Hurts likely out for the year, 2026 is a sunk cost for the Eagles. Here are their options for how to proceed.
All that should matter to us on the outside is that Hurts is expected to make a full recovery. But the calculus of how to replace him depends on some higher-level math.
Before we dive into the football implications of the startling news the Eagles just announced, let’s be clear about one thing. We aren’t attempting to diminish or gloss over the serious medical nature of all that Jalen Hurts has endured over the last couple of weeks. The opposite, in fact. The more anybody attempts to say about an athlete’s injuries or medical condition or a team’s treatment thereof, the bigger a disservice he does. There are few relationships in the modern world more sacrosanct than between patient and caregiver. As Hurts himself might say, you gotta know what you don’t know.
What we know is this: Hurts and the Eagles did a smart and commendable thing with the joint statement they issued on Monday morning. Their detailed timeline of events answers any question that those of us on the outside can reasonably have. It also makes clear both the gravity and fluidity of the situation that both player and team have been contending with as Hurts’ cleated calf progressed to a point where, according to additional reporting, the quarterback ended up with blood clots in his lungs.
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At this point, all that should matter to us on the outside is that Hurts is expected to make a full recovery, and that he will likely miss the rest of the season while undergoing treatment in the form of blood thinning medication. It goes without saying that Hurts’ health should be his only priority. The best thing that anybody else can do is empathize with him and his family and his doctors, wish him well, and limit our opinions to football.
Football is certainly where Nick Sirianni and Howie Roseman’s focus will need to be as they attempt to figure out where to go from here. The 2026 season was looking like it might be a sunk cost even when Hurts was healthy. Now, there is no question.
» READ MORE: NFL players and Eagles fans send best wishes to Jalen Hurts, and others still have some questions
The Eagles have lost four straight games, three of them to teams that figure to remain in the NFC playoff race. Their two wins have come against opponents with a combined record of 2-8-1. Among their remaining opponents are the Super Bowl champion Seahawks, the 5-0 49ers, and a Texans team that has won at least 10 games in each of the three previous seasons. Were Hurts expected to return at some point, a pathway to relevance would exist. Nobody in the division has won a game in two weeks (going into Mondaynight’s Commanders-49ers game), and nobody has looked capable of winning more than two or three apart from the ones against each other. Those aforementioned Seahawks are 3-3. The Rams are 2-4 after opening the season as preseason Super Bowl favorites. The Eagles are not the only team with issues. But they are the only team with issues that will be starting Tanner McKee at quarterback for the foreseeable future.
It did not go well on Sunday. In a 25-14 loss to the Panthers with McKee under center, the Eagles rarely looked capable of more than hoping that the bounces went in their direction. That’s not an indictment of McKee. The indictment had already been issued. He is a backup quarterback in a league where a third of the starting quarterbacks aren’t good enough. In fact, at the start of the season, he was the backup to the backup quarterback. Against the Panthers, McKee did not play any better or worse than one could have reasonably expected. It just wasn’t good enough.
It would be easy to say that the Eagles should pack it in for the year. But that isn’t an easy thing to do. There are no mulligans for coaches like Sirianni and offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, both of whom should be concerned first and foremost with proving they deserve to return next season (or even to finish out this season). Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is nearing retirement age. Riq Woolen, Dallas Goedert, Moro Ojomo — all will be eligible for free agency. As for the team’s younger players, development is partially a function of environment. What good will it do rookie tight end Eli Stowers to get playing time if the passing offense is non-functional? Same question goes for an offensive line that is starting three players with a combined nine games of starting experience.
And what about the defense? Aren’t there some downsides to putting Fangio’s unit in a position where it is logging 70+ snaps a week in service of a team that is openly acknowledging those snaps do not matter?
» READ MORE: Eagles’ persistent offensive struggles mean ‘everything’s on the table’ — and that could include Sean Mannion’s role
Besides, what does it even mean for a team to pack it in? The Eagles’ trade of Cam Jurgens for a second-round draft pick was a no-brainer, assuming they’d decided that Jurgens would be a backup moving forward. But that was a rare situation. Teams do not routinely give up first- or second-round draft picks midseason for short-term solutions. Last season, the Eagles traded a third-round pick for Jaelan Phillips, who ended up as one of the most highly sought-after edge rushers on the free agent market. Who on this team comes close to that? Is there a team that will really give up anything of consequence for Saquon Barkley, a soon-to-be 30-year-old running back with a sizable salary who is coming off a hamstring injury? Nolan Smith Jr., Jihaad Campbell, Ojomo … there is a no-brainer of a price for all of them. But most times the price ends up well shy of the benefit of keeping the player and thus playing more functional football.
On a granular level, the most immediate question the Eagles must answer is whether to expend some late-round draft capital to bring in a quarterback who might give them a better chance than McKee. Former backup Gardner Minshew is the effective third-stringer with the Cardinals, who figure to switch to rookie Carson Beck if they eventually decide to bench veteran Jacoby Brissett. Former Bengals interim starter Jake Browning is on the Chargers practice squad. The Steelers are carrying four quarterbacks. The Colts have former No. 4 overall pick Anthony Richardson on their roster.
The calculus of how to replace Hurts depends on some higher-level math. What is the Eagles’ likely path forward into the 2027 season? Who is the coach likely to be? What sort of offensive scheme will the Eagles be running? What is the minimum level of competence a team should be striving for in the meantime, both to do right by the locker room and coaching staff and to do right by themselves as they attempt to salvage whatever growth they can out of the current season?
There are lots of questions, all of them worth far more time and thought than we have in the here and now. These are interesting times, and not for the better.
