Two days after head coach Nick Sirianni told reporters, “Tanner’s our guy,” the Philadelphia Eagles are making a change. Joe Milton III is set to make his first NFL start on Sunday against the New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field, according to reports from ESPN and NFL Network, as a season that began with Super Bowl expectations turns to its third starting quarterback.
How the Eagles got here
Jalen Hurts has not played since October 11, when blood clots in his calf were discovered; the clots later traveled to both of his lungs, and the Super Bowl-winning quarterback is on season-ending injured reserve. Tanner McKee took over in Week 6 and lost all three of his starts, throwing for 638 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions while taking 10 sacks, five of them in Sunday’s 27-10 loss to Washington. The Eagles are 2-6, on a six-game losing streak and last in the NFC East. On Monday, Sirianni publicly committed to McKee. By Wednesday, the reports said otherwise.
Who is Joe Milton?
Milton, 26, is a 6-foot-5, 236-pound quarterback the New England Patriots drafted in the sixth round in 2024 out of Tennessee, famous in scouting circles for one of the strongest arms in football. The Eagles signed him off the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad on October 16, barely three weeks ago. He has appeared in five NFL games, never as a starter, completing 37 of 53 passes for 424 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, and adding 66 rushing yards. Asked about Milton’s progress on Wednesday, before the reports broke, Sirianni said: “I think he has worked really hard. He works extremely hard. He’s always in the building, doing the extra things, and I like his progression.”
Why now
The logic is part desperation, part audition. McKee, a pure pocket passer, was being overwhelmed behind an injury-hit line; Milton’s mobility gives the offense a different shape, and with Hurts done for the year, the Eagles need to learn what they have in Milton before a bye week and a lost season’s final stretch. It is the same calculation Baltimore made this week in trading for Jacoby Brissett: when the quarterback room empties, teams stop planning and start reaching. Milton’s reach begins Sunday, against a division rival, in front of the least patient crowd in the league.
Sources: ESPN and NFL Network reports as carried by USA Today, NBC Sports Philadelphia, the New York Post and the Delaware News Journal, November 4, 2026. The Eagles had not officially announced the change at the time of writing.