Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie isn’t afraid of a challenge.
Lurie said as much, just a few weeks ago at the NFL owners meetings — before the franchise awarded quarterback Jalen Hurts a contract that makes him the highest-paid player in the league. On Monday, Hurts and the Eagles agreed to terms on a five-year extension worth up to $255 million, with $179.3 million guaranteed. Hurts is scheduled to make an average of $51 million per year through 2028.
With Hurts set as the organization’s centerpiece, what happens to the rest of the roster? Historically, teams that have signed their franchise quarterbacks to large deals have been extremely limited in terms of spending ability.
But Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman appear eager to tackle that hurdle with an intent to maximize the team’s window to compete for another championship after it lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.
“We’ve seen teams do it,” Lurie replied at the NFL meetings when asked about balancing the team’s overall competitiveness level while also dealing with the financial factors that come with a large contract extension. “We’re challenged to be one of those teams.”
Lurie continued: “Of course, you have to manage the resources in terms of the salary cap differently. And so, you’ve got to try to have probably a higher volume of draft choices. You’ve got to have a great development program. I think we’re pretty awesome in how we prioritize player development. It’s huge for us. And Jalen’s a great example of that. That’s key because you’re not going to be able to outduel on cap resources teams that have rookie contracts for their quarterbacks. But the hardest part, for sure, is the scarcity of really good quarterbacks, and we’ve got one, we’ve got a very special player and individual in that position. It’s a good question and it bodes very well for us.”
While Hurts’ deal appears massive at first glance, it wouldn’t be a stretch to label it as team-friendly, especially when viewing some intricacies within the contract.
According to ESPN, Hurts’ contract carries salary cap hits of just $6.15 million and $13.56 million over the next two seasons before jumping to $21.77 million and $31.77 million in 2025 and 2026, respectively. This structure should provide the Eagles with additional financial flexibility over the next two seasons before Hurts’ cap hit expectedly skyrockets.
For context, Hurts will never rank higher than 10th in salary cap hits among NFL quarterbacks through 2026. Aaron Rodgers, who ranks second behind Hurts in annual salary, carries a cap hit of $31.623 million in 2023. Patrick Mahomes has the highest cap hit this year at $39.693 million.
According to Over The Cap, the cap is expected to jump from $224.8 million to a projected $256 million in 2024. Over that span, Hurts is expected to earn $64 million.
Roseman now has an opportunity to maintain a championship-caliber roster around Hurts despite him being labeled as the highest-paid player in the NFL. The Eagles, of course, are banking that Hurts doesn’t regress. His unrivaled work ethic would suggest otherwise. This past season, Hurts finished as NFL MVP runner-up while he earned second-team All-Pro honors. It helps that the Eagles have multiple offensive playmakers under contract for the foreseeable future, including wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and tight end Dallas Goedert.
Aside from Hurts, the Eagles would like to extend some of their recent draft picks, Smith and left guard Landon Dickerson, both of whom are eligible to sign extensions at the conclusion of the 2023 season. Leading up to next week’s draft, the Eagles possess six picks, while they’re expected to have up to a dozen picks in 2024. Given Hurts’ considerably low cap hits, Roseman should be able to work a few additional trades and he’ll have the opportunity to add lingering free-agent talent before the season opener.
“We want him here long term and that’s going to be a priority,” Roseman said of Hurts in March. “And so, when we’re looking at this free-agency period, we know the dynamics of our cap are going to have to change at some point. ... We have to look into team-building, not only this year, but into 2024 and 2025.”
