It’s not if but when the Eagles and star quarterback Jalen Hurts will work out a big-money extension.
The key windows for the possible deal this offseason are early June with the first of that month being a big bookkeeping date on the NFL calendar or if it takes a bit of time to put together what’s expected to be a monster deal, focus on the 10-or-so days before the start of training camp in late July.
Hurts’ maturity — Jeffrey Lurie recently called his QB the most mature 24-year-old he’s ever met — and unselfishness have most around the league assuming there will be few hiccups in the process even though the projected money is expected to reach astronomical heights with one former league executive telling JAKIB Sports to figure on anywhere from $48 million to $52 million from an average-annual-value standpoint, and a structure that could reach $200M in guarantees.
The other part of the equation is that Lurie has a history of being fair in these types of situations so most are just assuming a middle ground will be reached without much fanfare.
“I think Hurts will do a [Patrick] Mahomes-type deal with good structure for the team,” a current league exec told The Athletic’s Mike Sando. “He seems to get it.”
Mahomes inked what was billed as a massive 10-year, $450M extension with $140M in guarantees. At the time it seemed enormous but is now regarded as very team-friendly for the NFL’s reigning MVP.
The conventional wisdom is that the Eagles will want more years or the deal and the Hurts should take less to get another bite at the apple with significant gains in the salary cap virtually baked in now that the league’s new television deals are in place. The only thing that could affect that end game is something catastrophic like another pandemic.
The key for the Eagles would be to have financial flexibility and the ability to manipulate the cap number when needed to build the strongest roster possible.
“You can’t have the highest-paid guys at every position group,” the exec told Sando. “When you have success, you tend to lose guys.”
Hurts’ desire to win is so strong it’s hard to imagine chasing every last penny at the expense of his supporting cast.
“Y’all don’t get used to that other thing we did [losing the Super Bowl to Kansas City]. We plan on finishing moving forward,” Hurts said when accepting The Maxwell Club’s Bert Bell Award for the NFL’s best player. “I’m never ever satisfied. It’s only the beginning.
“I know I didn’t walk through the fire just to smell the smoke.”
