Eagles To Acquire QB Andy Dalton From Panthers

Dalton, 38, served as the backup to Bryce Young in Carolina for the last three years. He started one game in 2023, but drew five starts in 2024 with the Panthers having some doubts about their former No. 1 pick. This past season, though, he started only one game with Young putting up the best numbers of his career and establishing himself as the team’s unquestioned starter heading into 2026.

The Panthers signed Kenny Pickett as Young’s new backup last week, making Dalton surplus to requirements in Carolina. The Eagles have their own backup for Jalen Hurts in 2023 sixth-round Tanner McKee, who has impressed when asked to play in the last two years. He has only made two starts with a total of 88 passing attempts in the regular season, though he graded out as one of the NFL’s best passers during the 2025 preseason, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Philadelphia’s move for Dalton could mean that they are open to trading McKee, who drew interest during roster cut-downs last summer. Teams seeking a young backup they could work to develop into a future starter could inquire after the Stanford product.

In that case, Dalton would take over as Jalen Hurts‘ backup in the Eagles offense. Hurts has generally been healthy in his career with his absences typically coming as a result of the team locking in their playoff seeding early.

The official terms of the deal have yet to be announced, so the Panthers could be eating some of Darnold’s remaining salary to facilitate the trade. Assuming that is not the case, the Eagles will inherit the final year of the two-year, $8MM extension he signed last February. Dalton is owed $3.9MM in salary ($2MM of which is guaranteed) with a $100k workout bonus and a $4MM cap hit, per OverTheCap.