QB swap: Eagles trading Kenny Pickett to the Browns for Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a draft pick

EJ Smith, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Mar 10, 2025

Published in Football

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PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles are trading backup quarterback Kenny Pickett to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for second-year signal caller Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a 2025 fifth-round pick, according to a league source confirming an NFL Network report.

The Eagles acquired Pickett, 26, in a deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers last offseason to bolster the depth chart behind Jalen Hurts. They sent Pittsburgh a pair of 2025 seventh-round picks and moved back 22 spots from the third round to the fourth of last year’s draft in exchange for Pickett, a first-rounder in 2022 out of the University of Pittsburgh.

Pickett started the team’s Week 17 win against the Dallas Cowboys and played the majority of the Eagles’ loss to the Washington Commanders the week prior with Hurts out with a concussion. He finished last season with a 59.5% completion percentage, two touchdown passes and one interception. Pickett also took the final snaps of the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX victory over the Kansas City Chiefs with most of the starters watching from the sideline.

The trade should clear the way for Tanner McKee to serve as the team’s primary backup next season. Serving as the third-string quarterback last year, McKee flashed potential to be a worthy No. 2 both during training camp and, more importantly, in limited action late in the regular season.

Replacing Pickett against Dallas once Pickett left with a ribs injury, McKee had three completions and two touchdown passes in four attempts in the first regular-season action of his career. The 2023 sixth-round pick out of Stanford also started the team’s regular-season finale against the New York Giants and went 27 for 41 (65.9% completion) with two touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Considering how many big contracts the Eagles will take into the next couple seasons, it’s worth noting McKee is on a low-cost rookie deal that stretches through the 2026 season and could serve as an affordable but capable backup behind Hurts as a result.

Thompson-Robinson figures to slot in behind McKee as another developmental quarterback on a rookie deal. The former UCLA standout taken in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft has appeared in 15 games and has five starts in the last two years, completing 52.6% of his passes while throwing just one touchdown to 10 interceptions.

Although his regular-season game experience has been rocky, Thompson-Robinson flashed some potential during the 2023 preseason. The Eagles showed interest in the dual-threat quarterback during the pre-draft process that year. The team met with Thompson-Robinson at the NFL scouting combine, where he ran a 4.56-second 40-yard dash.

The fifth-rounder the Eagles netted in the trade originally belonged to the Detroit Lions. It’s the Eagles’ fourth pick in the fifth round and their eighth pick overall so far, although it’s important to note the team could be due up to four more compensatory picks between now and the draft depending on how the next few weeks of free agency unfold.

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