April 17, 2023
The Philadelphia Eagles announced on Monday that they have agreed to a five-year contract extension with quarterback Jalen Hurts that will run through 2028.
Multiple media outlets are reporting that Hurts' five year extension is worth $255 million ($51 million per season), including $179.3 million guaranteed.
This time last year, Hurts was viewed as an intelligent, hard-working quarterback with leadership qualities who could make plays with his legs, but had serious flaws as a passer, most notably inaccuracy as well as a lack of refinement within the pocket. His status as the Eagles' starting quarterback in 2022 wasn't a given until after the Eagles struck out on trades for Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson.
To say that Hurts made drastic improvements in his third NFL season would be a wild understatement, as he was the MVP runner-up to Patrick Mahomes, with the Eagles going 14-1 (plus 2-1 in the playoffs) in games he started. Including the playoffs, he threw 25 TDs vs. 6 INTs as a passer, and he rushed for 903 yards and 18 TDs, cementing his status as a star player and the face of the franchise.
We'll break down more of the details of Hurts' contract when they are made available, but $51 million per year price tag is about what was expected. The benefit to the Eagles is that they were able to lock Hurts in for six years, if you include the final year that was left on his rookie contract.
The salary cap jumped from $208.2 million in 2022 to $224.8 million in 2023, an eight percent increase. OverTheCap.com has a projected the NFL's salary cap to spike to something in the ballpark of $256 million in 2024, which if correct would be an increase of around 14 percent. As the salary cap rises, so too will the values of player contracts around the league. $51 million per year might sound like a lot right now, but it will seem much more reasonable in a few years as long as Hurts continues to perform at a high level.
The Eagles were also able to get their deal with Hurts done before other eligible star quarterbacks around the league, such as Joe Burrow (Bengals), Justin Herbert (Chargers), and Lamar Jackson (Ravens). By doing so, they eliminated the risk of one of those quarterbacks landing an absurd deal that might have disrupted a more reasonable market.
With the Hurts contract now in place, the Eagles now have more certainty on how to navigate the rest of the offseason, but more importantly they have their quarterback in place for the next half decade-plus.
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