Report: Philadelphia Eagles release rookie QB Kyle McCord

The Philadelphia Eagles are releasing quarterback Kyle McCord, per NFL insider Jordan Schultz. The Eagles selected McCord with the No. 181 overall pick in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

McCord saw action in all three of the Eagles’ preseason outings. In his three appearances, he completed 24-of-his-56 pass attempts (42.9%) for 191 yards and a touchdown, while throwing two interceptions. He was sacked twice for a total loss of 16 yards.

McCord had a good training camp, per Schultz. However, with quarterbacks Jalen Hurts, Tanner McKee and Sam Howell ahead of McCord on the roster, Philadelphia didn’t feel like it had a roster slot for him.

McCord had a standout 2024 campaign at Syracuse. McCord completed 66.0% of his pass attempts for 4,779 yards and 34 touchdowns, compared to just 12 interceptions. McCord’s 4,779 passing yards were the most in the country.

For reference, Cam Ward had the second-most passing yards in college football last season with more than 400 fewer than McCord. For his efforts, McCord was named an All-ACC Second-Team selection.

Syracuse wasn’t the only place McCord found success. Before joining the Orange, McCord spent three seasons at Ohio State. In the 2023 campaign, McCord earned the starting job for the Buckeyes.

He tallied 3,170 passing yards and 24 touchdowns while throwing just six interceptions in his lone season as OSU’s starter. Moreover, McCord led the Buckeyes to an 11-2 record and an appearance in the Cotton Bowl. He was named an All-Big Ten Third-Team selection.

McCord was the only quarterback who played in the Eagles’ 19-17 preseason win over the New York Jets on Friday. After the game, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni revealed why the team only played McCord at QB.

“We talked about that, getting him a full game right there,” Sirianni said. “[Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s] got a lot of tape out there and we’ve seen him play a lot as well. But I just thought we needed a lot more reps there for Kyle for the evaluation process.

““He had some good plays and he had some missed opportunities… We’ll have to watch the tape, but he did some nice things, ran the show well, and played some good situational football that helped us get some points.”

Evidently, McCord’s performance wasn’t spectacular enough to convince the Eagles to keep him on the 53-man roster. On Sept. 4, the Eagles will kick off their regular season with a showdown against the Dallas Cowboys at 8:20 p.m. ET. The game will air live on NBC.