Syracuse Football: NFL cut week likely won't end well for beloved Orange quarterback

Neil Adler

Former Syracuse football quarterback Kyle McCord likely won't make the Eagles' roster after the team traded for another QB. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Things aren't looking so good for Kyle McCord to make the Philadelphia Eagles roster for the NFL's upcoming 2025 season.

On Sunday, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported via X that the Eagles were involved in a trade with the Minnesota Vikings. The Eagles will receive former North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell and a 2026 sixth-round pick.

The Vikings are getting a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 seventh-round pick. That Philadelphia traded for another quarterback likely signals that McCord, the former Syracuse football star signal-caller, won't be with his hometown Eagles beyond training camp.

Trade: Vikings are sending QB Sam Howell to the Philadelphia Eagles, per ESPN sources.

Howell now will join Jalen Hurts and Tanner McKee in the Eagles QB room. pic.twitter.com/X4ePFdk3bg
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 24, 2025

It's cut week in the NFL, with all teams having to reduce their rosters to an initial 53 players by 4 pm EST on Tuesday.

Former Syracuse football quarterback Kyle McCord has had uneven preseason performances.

The Eagles, the defending Super Bowl champions, will roll with standout Jalen Hurts as the team's starting quarterback. Tanner McKee, who is entering his third year in the NFL, is expected to be Philadelphia's No. 2 QB.

McCord had been thought to be competing with Dorian Thompson-Robinson for the No. 3 spot, but with Howell coming on board, it looks like the 6-foot-3, 218-pound McCord may have to find a new NFL team.

In the Eagles' 19-17 road win over the New York Jets on Friday night, McCord played a lot, but he didn't play all that well. He completed 15-of-35 passes for 136 yards and one interception. In total, this preseason, per ESPN, McCord has completed 24-of-56 attempts, or 42.9 percent, for 191 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

At the 2025 NFL Draft in late April, Philadelphia selected McCord in the sixth round, at No. 181 overall. McCord, who is from Mount Laurel, N.J., and was a five-star prep recruit in the 2021 class out of the St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia, had a magical senior year with Syracuse football.

After transferring from Ohio State to the Orange for the 2024 season, McCord set numerous Atlantic Coast Conference and 'Cuse program records as he passed for 4,779 yards with 34 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. Syracuse football, last year, went 10-3 overall and finished No. 20 in the final Associated Press top-25 poll.

Like everyone in Orange Nation, I'm rooting for Kyle. Assuming he doesn't make Philadelphia's regular-season roster, I hope that McCord catches on with another NFL team soon.

Neil Adler

Since 2016, Neil has served as a writer with Inside The Loud House, while also taking on the role of editor in 2020. Neil, a graduate of Syracuse University in 2000, primarily covers 'Cuse basketball, football, recruiting, NIL and conference realignment issues. Neil has been an avid Syracuse sports enthusiast dating back to the 1980s. While with Loud House, Neil is regularly heard on the radio in Central New York, while also participating in numerous podcasts related to the 'Cuse. His exclusive reports are often picked up by other media outlets, too. When not writing about Syracuse sports, Neil also co-owns a marketing agency in the Washington, D.C., market. He loves playing hoops and buying basketball cards with his son, spending time with his parents, brother and nephews, and listening to Duran Duran.