Justin Herbert's record $262.5M contract shows why Jalen Hurts' Eagles deal is a bargain

PHILADELPHIA − Jalen Hurts' reign as the player with the biggest contract didn't last long.

Now the Eagles' quarterback is in third place after the Chargers' Justin Herbert signed a five-year extension worth as much as $262.5 million earlier this week. Baltimore's Lamar Jackson is second with a contract worth as much as $260 million.

At some point, Hurts will be in fourth place after the Bengals' Joe Burrow eventually gets his extension. Maybe Trevor Lawrence will pass them all when he's eligible following this season.

So Hurts will have to get by on his deal worth as much as $255 million.

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And really, it will be a bargain for the Eagles.

This is not to demean Herbert or any other quarterback. Herbert is certainly worthy. No other quarterback in NFL history has completed more passes in their first three seasons than Herbert.

Herbert, the No. 6 pick in the 2020 draft, threw for 4,336 yards as a rookie, second to only Andrew Luck among rookie quarterbacks. He also set a rookie record with 31 touchdown passes, and surpassed 5,000 yards in his second season.

This factor separates Hurts from the others

But there are other ways to measure a quarterback's greatness. And Hurts, who was drafted in the second round in 2020 (53rd overall) alluded to that Wednesday when he said he's "embracing the uniqueness of my game, and just being a triple threat out there."

What does being a triple threat mean to Hurts?

"Just being someone knowledgeable and understanding of what’s going on on the field, and being able to make those throws," Hurts said. "And being able to cause problems on the ground as well. Those are the three areas of quarterback that I’m embracing, and that I want to continue to excel at."

Hurts is easily the better runner than Herbert, and pretty much every quarterback other than Jackson and Chicago's Justin Fields. Jackson and especially Fields aren't Hurts' equals as passers.

If you combine Hurts' rushing and passing yards last season, it comes to 4,461 yards, not far off Herbert's total yardage of 4,886 yards (Herbert ran for 147 yards last season). Herbert threw 25 TD passes, and didn't have any rushing touchdowns. Hurts threw for 22 TDs and ran for 13 more.

The third part of the triple threat, the cerebral part of the game, is what separates Hurts from the others.

That manifests itself in the overall record. The Eagles went 14-1 in the 2022 regular season under Hurts, and they're 23-11 overall when Hurts starts. The Chargers are 25-24 under Herbert. The Bengals are 24-17-1 under Burrow, the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft. The Ravens are 45-16 under Jackson.

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But Hurts and Burrow are the only two to reach the Super Bowl. Both of their teams lost in the championship game, the Bengals 23-20 to the Rams in Feb. 2022, and the Eagles 38-35 to the Chiefs this past February.

Is Hurts' running make him more susceptible to injury?

Sure, you could make the argument that Hurts' running makes him more susceptible to injuries. He missed two games last season with a shoulder injury after getting tackled while running.

But that's somewhat misleading. In 2021, Hurts missed a game with an ankle injury, but that happened while he was in the pocket.

Burrow, meanwhile, suffered a calf injury Thursday while rolling out of the pocket in practice, untouched. He was carted off the field. It's not known yet how long Burrow will be out.

The point is, injuries can happen at any time in any situation.

Sure, there are quarterbacks who are reckless when they run, either challenging defenders unnecessarily, or not sliding or going out of bounds to avoid hits. Wentz comes to mind when he played for the Eagles.

Hurts is not reckless.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said the coaching staff constantly talks about not only protecting Hurts when he runs, but how Hurts can better protect himself. Sirianni insists he has been doing that since 2021 when Hurts' future as the Eagles quarterback was very much in doubt.

"It would have been malpractice on my part if I didn't do that," Sirianni said. "We didn't go into the '21 season like 'Well, if he gets hurt, whatever.' The process hasn't changed all that much as far as how we tell Jalen to protect himself and how we call plays to make sure we don't put him at risk."

Why there's still room for growth for Hurts, teammates

But there's one more factor that separates Hurts from the other quarterbacks. And we have seen this during the offseason. Sure, it would be easy for Hurts and his teammates to become a bit complacent, even subconsciously, following the 2022 season.

After all, there are the accolades stemming from Hurts' performance, when he threw for 304 yards and ran for 70 more, including three touchdowns, in the Super Bowl loss.

But as soon as the game was over, Hurts made it clear how he would approach this offseason: "You win or you learn."

And that extends to his teammates. Wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are also coming off career years. Brown set a franchise-record with 1,496 yards receiving, and Smith had 1,196 yards receiving, making them the first Eagles' duo to each surpass 1,000 yards in a season.

Brown was asked if it's tough to find areas to improve upon after such a successful season.

"If you have a complacent mindset, I think it will be tough," he said. "But that's none of the guys on our team, none the guys around me, especially me ... Whatever happened last year doesn't matter.

"So I'm not riding on that high. Most importantly, we lost (the Super Bowl) so there is no high. Everybody knows what the goal is right here. And we don’t have to speak on it."

That's not to say that Herbert or any of the other quarterbacks will become complacent with their big contracts. It's just that we saw what Hurts has already accomplished, and how determined he is to accomplish so much more.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Why Jalen Hurts' contract is a bargain next to Justin Herbert's record