In an offseason filled with quarterback drama, Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles traveled the exact opposite path to earn long-term overtime on Monday.
The 2020 second-round pick that took the Eagles to the Super Bowl this year hasn’t defected to a dark retreat, tweeted his trade request and didn’t insist on a fully guaranteed contract.
Instead, Hurts and the Eagles committed to a deal by 2028 that appears to favor both parties.
The deal also has major implications for other quarterbacks, including Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert and Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow.
So who won and who lost in this deal? Let’s break it down.
winner
Pains: To state the obvious, Hurts just made generational money. It will average a record $51 million per year over the life of its five-year renewal (which begins in 2024), with the $255 million package also including $179.3 million in guarantees (the second-highest guaranteed new money in the history of the league) contains knowledge of the conditions confirmed to Yahoo Sports. Hurts should also be stable through 2028 as he and agent Nicole Lynn negotiated what a source said was the first no-trade clause in Eagles franchise history. In a league nicknamed Not For Long, players value this long-term security. Hurts also understands the value of stability, having weathered the challenges of instability on a seven-play, seven-season journey from Texas to Alabama, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. After a season of battling for MVP honors, Hurts is just getting started.
The Eagles: NFL teams generally have to negotiate within a number of parameters in order to close deals. As position markets rise alongside continued salary cap growth, most teams are struggling to bargain with top-tier quarterbacks. So, an important key to saving money can be speeding up the completion of negotiations. While no team can guarantee their quarterback’s future health, it would be an extremely safe bet to assume that the quarterback market will rise as other teams make deals. Negotiating that deal before and not after the final year of Hurts’ rookie contract and in April rather than September or even June likely frees up at least a couple million a year to compensate other members of the roster.
The story goes on
Now that Jalen Hurts (left) has a long-term extension with the Philadelphia Eagles, he can bond with top target and friend AJ Brown (right) for years to come. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Nicole Lynn: Hurts’ agent has made headlines aplenty for paving the way as one of the few women, and even rarer as a black woman, to represent an NFL client. Lynn has repeatedly struck deals where minority agents have encountered obstacles: she represented a first-round draft pick in 2019 (Quinnen Williams finished third overall for the Jets), her first quarterback at Hurts in 2020, and her first white client quarterback Bailey Zappe, who the Patriots selected in the fourth round last year. Lynn is passionate about showing younger women and younger black women that they can achieve their goals regardless of their demographics. On Monday, she gave them more evidence.
Deshaun Watson: Fans and critics no doubt have their opinions on the five-year, $230 million, fully guaranteed deal the Cleveland Browns awarded Watson last year. It is debatable whether Watson’s on-field value reflected the price and what message the deal sent in connection with the off-field sexual misconduct allegations he faced. But Hurts’ deal further proves that Watson “won” by earning the NFL contract with a full unicorn guarantee.
The Baltimore Ravens: Ravens team owner Steve Bisciotti admitted after Watson’s deal that “damn I wish they hadn’t guaranteed the whole contract.” He added: “It doesn’t necessarily mean we have to play the game.” And the Ravens don’t. Not only has it gone a year without a fully guaranteed contract, the Ravens haven’t even given Jackson an exclusive franchise tag to keep him from negotiating with other teams. The Ravens seem confident in their negotiating tactics. Hurts’ partially guaranteed deal validates their decision.
Brian Johnson: After the Indianapolis Colts hired Shane Steichen as head coach in February, the Eagles promoted Brian Johnson from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. Closing the deal eliminates a distraction on the field and now also expands a partnership between two men who have known each other since Jalen Hurts was young and Jalen’s father Averion, who coached Johnson in high school. Jalen Hurts and Johnson work well together. Now they can count on more time together.
AJ Brown: You’d think the Eagles’ star receiver would win because he could continue playing with a quarterback he’s not only familiar with, but also good friends with before he was a teammate. But Brown, who just put together 1,496 yards and 11 touchdowns in his freshman season with hurts, gave us on Twitter another reason why he’s celebrating. On June 30th he celebrates his 26th birthday. His best friend has just banked, and he expects to celebrate accordingly.
Burrow and Herbert: We’ll address this more in the Losers section, but until then? Let’s just say her value surged up and to the right on Monday. And they know it.
loser
Lamar Jackson: Jackson is the biggest loser on this deal and it’s not close. He chose not to hire an agent, he chose to insist on a fully guaranteed contract and he chose to publicize his trade request. He had and remains the right to do all these things. They might still work. But Jackson’s reasoning stemmed from Watson’s deal. And now quarterbacks including the Arizona Cardinals’ Kyler Murray, Denver Broncos’ Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks’ Geno Smith and most recently Hurts are backing what a manager at NFC team Yahoo Sports told last week: “[Jackson] must understand that Watson’s deal was an anomaly that only one team in the league was willing to make. Neither Burrow nor Herbert will get fully guaranteed extensions.”
On Monday, an agent described Hurts’ deal as a “huge blow” to Jackson. Hurts has a dual-threat style similar to Jackson’s but a far sturdier playoff résumé, including a Super Bowl appearance and a cleaner (if imperfect) medical record. If he hasn’t received full guarantees, Jackson isn’t expected to either.
Lamar Jackson’s hopes of a fully guaranteed contract took another blow Monday when Jalen Hurts agreed to a partially guaranteed contract. (Courtney Culbreath/Getty Images)
Chargers, Bengal: Your quarterbacks just got more expensive. None of their owners have the deepest pockets of any NFL team owner. It’s too early to say for certain how much this has moved the needle, especially given the semantics that go with any player contract announcement anyway. But expect Hurts’ deal to be the word for Burrow and Herbert now. Time is of the essence, folks.
NFC East Defense: This really applies to every defense on the Eagles’ schedule, but NFC East foes can now expect Hurts’ mismatch nightmare twice a year. Hurts’ legs make him a constant threat when it comes to escaping the pocket, his run-pass option expertise not only trumps defenders but outwits them, and his ridiculous strength should worry defenders, especially in Close-range and goal-line situations when hurts can get through the pocket as well as any quarterback in the NFL. His 3,701 passing yards, 22 touchdowns and six interceptions in 15 games last season reminded teams of the aerial threat; Hurts’ 760 yards and 13 extra touches explain the rare ability that earned him this contract. Add in the ability to produce in big moments — he was arguably the Super Bowl’s most valuable player, with 374 yards and five touchdowns from scrimmage — and the Eagles’ decision to call up makes even more sense.
Quarterback Traditionalists: As shown above, Hurts is an accomplished and extremely capable passer, but he’s not just that. Hurts’ game reflects the mobility and versatility that modern quarterbacks are increasingly integrating, and the payday he earned with that style shows, that pocket passing is far from the only way to win and advance in the NFL.
Howie Roseman’s machinations: Perhaps the Eagles’ general manager will surprise us with another seemingly unlikely move like acquiring a great wide receiver like Brown, whom the Titans traded to Philadelphia last spring. Maybe he’ll find another move as smart as he did when he traded quarterback Carson Wentz and somehow made the first- and third-round picks. But the cap flexibility Roseman had during those moves now dips as he rolls up the Brinks truck for hurts. Then again, the Eagles amazingly have their 10th overall win (and 30th) just months after a Super Bowl trip. You should just be good.
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