Typically, over the last few seasons, Philadelphia Eagles fans have seen other teams go to their franchise quarterbacks, restructure their contracts with longer-term deals, and give them more guaranteed money up front. That has not been the case for the Eagles with Jalen Hurts, though.
This offseason, the Eagles had a chance to give Hurts a restructured contract to keep him longer and save money against the cap, which is something general manager Howie Roseman is very good at doing. Instead, the Eagles are just leaving it alone, which has led many to think the Eagles are questioning Hurts as the long-term solution at quarterback for the moment and must prove himself. Hurts was asked about this and seemed unbothered.
"For me, I'm truly focused on being the best I can be right now," Hurts said via The Athletic's Zach Berman. "That's where my energy is. There's a lot of change, as is. I'm focused on this offense. I'm focused on building with Sean and being at my best."
Jalen Hurts is focused on playing and not his contract
Including 2026, Hurts has three more years on his five-year, $255 million contract extension he signed a few years ago. The kicker is that this season is the last for which he is given guaranteed money.
At the moment, the Eagles would take a massive hit on the salary cap if the team wanted to move on from Hurts after the 2026 season. Realistically, they would have to wait until the 2028 offseason if they truly wanted to go in a different direction at quarterback. Even in 2028, they wouldn't save money until after June 1, when that date means they could save $21.4 million for a trade or release.
Most teams that are secure in their franchise quarterback would have just added more years and tried to tone down the cap hit they could face. Instead, Hurts might have to prove his worth in 2026, which led many to believe that 2026 is a make-or-break season for the quarterback.
Whether it should be or not is a separate debate with some validity, and it's also straight-up disrespectful towards him. Winning a Super Bowl and being in the Pro Bowl three times, while winning over 68% of the games he started, should be enough to keep a quarterback in town for a long time.
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Knowing Hurts, he always finds a way to work through it and play better in the process. If he doesn't, though, then next offseason, the noise is only going to get louder for him.
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