Advertisement

Eagles, QB Jalen Hurts agree to 5-year contract extension reportedly worth $255M

This contract will make Jalen Hurts the highest-paid player in NFL history.

liz roscher
Staff writer
·4 min read
1.8k

Quarterback Jalen Hurts is going to be under center for the Philadelphia Eagles for a long time.

According to multiple reports and confirmed by Yahoo Sports' Jori Epstein, Hurts and the Eagles have agreed to a five-year, $255 million contract that will keep him in Philadelphia through the 2028 season. The contract also includes over $179 million in guarantees, and will make Hurts the highest-paid player in NFL history. The Eagles announced the extension, but did not reveal any other details about the contract.

The $179.3 million in guaranteed money is the second-most in league history behind Deshaun Watson's contract with the Cleveland Browns. And Hurts' agent, Nicole Lynn, also negotiated a no-trade clause, a first for this kind of contract.

Hurts, 24, just finished his third season with the Eagles. He made massive strides forward in 2022, using his legs and arm to become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. He helped lead the Eagles to a 14-3 record and an NFC championship (though they lost 38-35 to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII).

In just three years, Hurts' presence changed the Eagles' direction. They picked him in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, a move that surprised many Eagles fans and even some players, or really just one: QB Carson Wentz. Wentz was reportedly unhappy that the Eagles drafted another quarterback, and that is what began Wentz's final, dismal season in Philly. Wentz was benched for Hurts late in the season before Philly shipped him out to the Indianapolis Colts in the offseason.

Hurts took over at quarterback in the 2021 season, going 3-6 in the first half before the Eagles made an adjustment in their offense that paid off in a major way: They started running. Starting in Week 8, Philadelphia rushed for at least 175 yards in seven straight games, becoming the first team since the legendary 1985 Chicago Bears to accomplish that feat.

The Eagles went 6-2 over their final eight games, and though they were eliminated from the playoffs after an ugly loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they had figured out how to use Hurts and how to build around him. With the additions of wide receiver A.J. Brown and defensive backs James Bradberry and C.J. Gardner-Johnson, the Eagles soared in 2022, and Hurts was one of the key reasons.

Hurts threw for 22 touchdowns in 2022 with just six interceptions, and ran for another 13 scores with 760 rushing yards on the season. He finished No. 2 in MVP voting, No. 3 in Offensive Player of the Year voting, was named an All-Pro and was voted to the Pro Bowl.

Hurts has also proven valuable to the Eagles' locker room.

"I have had the opportunity to watch it [the Super Bowl] and I think I'm going to move forward with all of those experiences in mind and try to use those things to better myself and grow and help the guys around me and we're going to definitely use that as an experience to take a step and move forward," Hurts told the team website after the 2022 season ended. "You have to look yourself in the mirror and assess it for what it is and do the things that need to be done to grow from it. I think that's my mentality going on and I think that will be this whole entire team's mentality moving forward."