Winners and losers from Jalen Hurts’ Eagles extension: What it means for Lamar Jackson
In an offseason filled with quarterback drama, Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles traveled the exact opposite route to reach a long-term extension Monday.
The 2020 second-round draft pick who led the Eagles to the Super Bowl this year did not defect to a dark retreat, tweet his trade request nor insist on a fully guaranteed contract.
Instead, Hurts and the Eagles committed to each other through 2028 in what seems to be a deal that will favor both parties.
The deal also holds strong implications for fellow quarterbacks, including the 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.
Winners
Hurts: To state the obvious, Hurts just made generational money. He’s set to average a record $51 million per year over the life of his five-year extension (which begins in 2024). The $255 million package also includes $179.3 million in guarantees (second-most guaranteed new money in league history), a person with knowledge of the terms confirmed to Yahoo Sports. Hurts also should have stability through 2028, as he and agent Nicole Lynn negotiated what one source said was the first no-trade clause in Eagles franchise history. In a league nicknamed Not For Long, players cherish that long-term security. Hurts further understands the value of stability after weathering the challenges of instability in a seven-playcallers-in-seven-seasons journey from Texas to Alabama to Oklahoma to Pennsylvania. Coming off a season when he contended for MVP honors, Hurts is just getting started.
The Eagles: NFL teams must negotiate, generally, within a set of parameters to close deals. As positional markets rise alongside the salary cap’s continued growth, most teams are hard-pressed to earn bargain deals on top-tier quarterbacks. So a major key to saving money can be expediting the completion of negotiations. While no team can guarantee the future health of its quarterback, it would be an extremely safe bet to assume the quarterback market will rise as other teams close deals. Negotiating this deal before rather than after the final year of Hurts’ rookie contract, and in April rather than September or even June, likely frees up at least a few million per year to compensate other roster members.
Nicole Lynn: Hurts’ agent has generated ample headlines for blazing a path as one of the handful of women, and still rarer a Black woman, representing an NFL client. Lynn has repeatedly closed deals that minority agents have faced barriers closing: She represented a first-round draft selection in 2019 (Quinnen Williams went third overall to the Jets), her first quarterback with Hurts in 2020, and her first white client — quarterback Bailey Zappe, whom 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 demographic. Monday, she gave them further evidence.
Deshaun Watson: Fans and critics undoubtedly have their opinions on the five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million deal the Cleveland Browns awarded Watson last year. One can debate whether Watson’s on-field value reflected the price tag and what message the deal sent in conjunction with the off-field allegations of sexual misconduct he faced. But Hurts’ deal further proves that Watson “won” in receiving the unicorn fully guaranteed NFL contract.
The Baltimore 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 haven’t. Not only has a year passed without a fully guaranteed contract, but also the Ravens didn’t even give Jackson an exclusive franchise tag to keep him from negotiating with other teams. The Ravens appear 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. The deal’s conclusion eliminates an on-field distraction while also now extending a partnership between two men who have known each other since Jalen Hurts was young, and Jalen’s father, Averion, coached Johnson in high school. Jalen Hurts and Johnson work well together. Now, they can expect more time together.
A.J. Brown: You might think the Eagles’ star receiver wins because he gets to continue to play with a quarterback whom he’s not only familiar with but also best friends with dating back to before their time as teammates. But Brown, who just compiled 1,496 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first season with Hurts, gave us another reason on Twitter that he’s celebrating. On June 30, he’ll celebrate his 26th birthday. His best friend just made bank, 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 their value went up and to the right Monday. And they know it.
Losers
Lamar Jackson: Jackson is the biggest loser of 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 was and remains in the right to do each of those 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, support what one NFC team executive told Yahoo Sports last week: “[Jackson] needs to understand that Watson’s deal was an anomaly that only one team in the league was willing to do. Neither Burrow nor Herbert are going to get fully guaranteed extensions.”
On Monday, one agent described Hurts’ deal as a “major blow” for Jackson. Hurts features a similar dual-threat style to Jackson but a far beefier playoff résumé, including a Super Bowl appearance and a cleaner (albeit imperfect) bill of health. If he wasn’t receiving full guarantees, Jackson isn’t expected to.
Chargers, Bengals: Their quarterbacks just got more expensive. Neither club boasts the deepest pockets among NFL team owners. It’s too soon to say for sure how much this has moved the needle, especially given the semantics that accompany any player contract announcements anyway. But expect Hurts’ deal to now be the floor for Burrow and Herbert’s. Time is ticking, folks.
NFC East defenses: This applies really to any defense on the Eagles’ schedule, but NFC East foes can now expect Hurts’ mismatch nightmare twice annually. Hurts’ legs make him a constant threat to escape the pocket, his run-pass option expertise outplays and outwits defenders, and his ridiculous strength should worry defenders, especially in short-yardage and goal-line situations when Hurts can push 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 remind teams of the air threat; Hurts’ 760 yards and 13 additional touchdowns by ground help explain the rare ability that earned him this contract. Add in an ability to produce in big moments — he was arguably the most valuable player of the Super Bowl, with 374 yards and five touchdowns from scrimmage — and the Eagles’ decision to pay up makes even more sense.
Quarterback traditionalists: As evidenced above, Hurts is an accomplished and highly capable passer but he’s not only that. Hurts’ game reflects the mobility and versatility modern quarterbacks are increasingly integrating, and the payday he earned while employing that style supports that pocket passing is far from the only way to win and advance in the NFL.
Howie Roseman’s wheeling and dealing: Maybe the Eagles general manager will surprise us with another move as seemingly improbable as acquiring a great wide receiver like Brown, whom the Titans traded to Philadelphia last spring. Maybe he’ll find another move as shrewd as when he traded away quarterback Carson Wentz, and somehow netted first- and third-round draft picks. But the salary cap flexibility Roseman had during those moves now dips as he rolls up the Brinks truck for Hurts. Then again: The Eagles amazingly have the 10th overall pick (and the 30th) mere months after a Super Bowl trip. They should be just fine.
About The Author
