The Eagles’ Massive Hurts Extension Has Implications Across The NFL
There have been plenty of moves across the NFL that have a lot more panache this offseason, but the Eagles made what is easily one of the most sensible ones this week. By signing Jalen Hurts to a massive five-year, 255-million-dollar contract, the Eagles ensured long-term possession of their most valuable asset. This move not only was big for the Eagles, but it also has implications. Here, I will break down not only what this move means for the Eagles and their fans, but also which franchises are indirectly impacted by the move.
The Contract And Its Meaning For The Eagles
This is a fairly monumental deal. Other than just the $51M/year valuation of the contract, Hurts is getting $179 million guaranteed in a deal that, overall, makes him the highest-paid player in NFL history. While this is a tremendous cap hit, given that Hurts was coming off a rookie contract, it also helps the Eagles ensure their future and lock down a franchise player.
Simply put, Hurts was amazing this past year. He increased his confidence and accuracy in the pocket, cut down on the turnovers, used all of his weapons well, and was a big reason that the Eagles’ offense was extremely difficult to stop. He took to the big moments extremely well, leading the charge through their playoff run, and had it not been for a poor defensive showing from the Eagles, he’d be a Super Bowl MVP.
Before this signing, the Eagles were able to keep a number of their biggest contributors, particularly on defense, with Bradberry, Slay, and Cox. Already having a championship-level offense, the only improvement needed there is for their younger contributors, Hurts included, to develop. This does make it harder for the Eagles to evolve defensively – and the Super Bowl thoroughly exposed a need for them to do that – but hopefully for them, by keeping their core on that side intact and with smart drafting, they can improve.
At the end of the day, this was necessary for the Eagles. They now have one of the top QBs in the entire league locked up, without having to worry about further negotiations for some time.
A Formerly Exorbitant Deal Is Looking Awfully Cheap Now
In July 2020, a deal was made that broke all conceptions of what previously seemed possible in terms of payscale for a quarterback. When Patrick Mahomes signed for 10 years, 500 million, most people thought the same thing: 10 years is too long, and 500 million is too much.
Since, Mahomes has proven his ability, both the rocket arm and dynamic out-of-pocket mobility. He has proven his consistency – five AFC championship appearances in five years – and produced a high-level game after game, year after year. He’s shown his longevity, with no signs of leaving his prime anytime soon, while seldomly experiencing an injury, and recovering very quickly when it does happen. The Chiefs approach the 2023 season in the same position with which they’ve approached every season since 2018 – as a serious championship contender, and arguably the team to beat.
Now, the Chiefs have seen the team they most recently vanquished pay their QB more per year, they’ve watched Daniel Jones get 41 million per year, and they’ve seen a contract negotiation battle between the Ravens and Lamar Jackson. All of a sudden, a contract that is long enough to hold off negotiations for virtually all of Mahomes’ prime, and will look cheaper by the year in a monotonically increasing QB market.
Most importantly, with the stability that the situation allows in their salary cap, the Chiefs can feel free to be aggressive in the offseason. In hindsight, Kansas City bought themselves 10 guaranteed contending years, and have used the first three of those years quite well. It’s a masterstroke, and unless the QB position somehow loses value, which seems near-impossible, it is a good example for teams to follow if they land a generational prospect that actually materializes in the NFL.
Even More Pressure For This Franchise To Pay Up
Lamar Jackson’s situation for 2023 remains one of the biggest unanswered questions of this offseason. The Ravens will, by no means, be able to hold onto Lamar with a 32-million-dollar franchise tag, and if he plays there in 2023, it’s headed for a tense situation without a contract extension. Essentially acting as his own agent throughout this process, there’s no question Lamar is aware of this deal and will use it as ammunition.
How can he use this in his favor? Well, there’s finally another quarterback approaching the Deshaun Watson-level salary Lamar is looking for. There needed to be another example, in this case of a player more worthy of his payday than Watson, of this pay scale to make this kind of number seem like anything but a mistake.
Is it all good for Lamar? Maybe not quite. This figure is comparable to the deal that Jackson was offered in September (250 million rather than 255), and that deal actually had more guaranteed money at signing. While Lamar may tower over Hurts as far as talent is concerned, when factoring in playoff success, longevity, and consistency, Hurts may actually prove to be the better investment.
Nevertheless, for someone like Lamar, whose athleticism is unmatched, and who can make plays like nobody else in the NFL, seeing the record for the highest-paid contract ever get broken yet again, as well as a number of other quarterbacks getting big contracts, gives hope and leverage to Lamar’s cause.
The Ravens did get OBJ this offseason, sweetening up their deal to Lamar, but the Ravens and Lamar do face a paradox in general, in that to give Lamar the Super Bowl caliber talent he would want on a team to truly contend, he can’t get paid what he wants. Somewhere in the middle of both sides of this argument is the perfect number for Jackson.
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