Jets wisely avoided major QB mistake before Geno Smith trade

The New York Jets found their temporary solution to the quarterback position earlier this month, acquiring former Las Vegas Raiders starter Geno Smith in a swap of Day 3 picks.

While the team is still searching for Smith’s backup, Jets fans can take comfort in knowing the organization avoided what could have been a major mistake at the position in the days leading up to the Smith trade.

ESPN's Rich Cimini reported last week that the Jets inquired about the possibility of trading for Philadelphia Eagles backup Tanner McKee, among other trade candidates such as Davis Mills and Mac Jones.

The Jets ultimately passed on the opportunity, and it certainly looks like they made the right call. Jimmy Kempski of Philly Voice confirmed this past weekend what many had already speculated — the Eagles’ asking price for McKee was absurdly high.

Kempski reported that the Eagles have been seeking a second-round pick in return for their young backup quarterback. Needless to say, the Jets were never going to pay that price.

Jets avoided a massive overpay in hypothetical Tanner McKee trade

At this point, the artificial inflation of McKee’s value feels like some sort of league-wide psyop. There’s no other way to explain how a quarterback with his resume is suddenly being valued like a premium asset. Either the Eagles are master negotiators, or the rest of the NFL is being gaslit in real time.

This is a former sixth-round pick who has made two career starts in his NFL career, both of which came in Week 18 garbage time. His most recent start was the final game of the 2025 regular season, where he completed just 52.5% of his passes and threw for one touchdown and one interception in a 24-17 loss to the Commanders.

McKee is entering the final year of his rookie contract and may not even be a lock for QB2 in Philadelphia next season — no matter what the team publicly insists at this time — after the Eagles traded for Andy Dalton.

Somehow, his value has gone from a sixth-round pick in 2023 to a second-round asking price just a few years later, despite having three years less of team control and two mediocre, garbage-time Week 18 starts to show for it. It’s hard to make sense of any of that.

The Eagles clearly value McKee as a capable developmental backup and evidently have no plans to trade him. That's the only logical explanation for their unrealistic asking price — no team is ever going to pay that.

The Jets were wise to check in on McKee's availability as they left no stone unturned in their pursuit of various quarterback options this offseason. They were even wiser to laugh in Howie Roseman's face the moment they heard the price tag.