While the football world waits to see what kind of deal Lamar Jackson will strike with either the Ravens or another team after Baltimore placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on him, the Philadelphia Eagles got to work locking up their franchise quarterback for the foreseeable future.
via: New York Post
The Philadelphia Eagles agreed to a massive contract extension for star quarterback Jalen Hurts on Monday morning, giving him a new deal for five years and a whopping $255 million, according to multiple reports, making him the highest-paid player in NFL history at an average of $51 million per year.
The contract includes $179.3 million in guarantees and a no-trade clause.
Hurts, 24, had a dominant season for the Eagles in 2022, helping lead Philadelphia to the Super Bowl.
The NFC Pro Bowler passed for 3,701 yards, 22 touchdowns and six interceptions in the regular season, while also adding 760 yards rushing and 13 TDs on the ground.
The Alabama and Oklahoma product also had a sensational Super Bowl, completing 71 percent of his passes for 301 yards and a touchdown with no turnovers in the game – which the Eagles barely lost to the Chiefs, 38-35.
General manager Howie Roseman rewarded the fourth-year quarterback with a deal that will keep him in Philadelphia through 2028.
With the new deal on the books, the market is officially set for Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert, fellow star quarterbacks from the 2020 draft class that are set for extensions this offseason.
Additionally, the $179.3 million million guaranteed could be what Lamar Jackson asks for as he, too, looks for a new deal.
Jackson and the Ravens have been far apart on figures for a contract extension, with the star quarterback reportedly wanting much more guaranteed money than the team offered him.
Jackson announced last month that he requested a trade from the Ravens.
Hurts’ $179.3 million guaranteed is the third-most given to a player in NFL history, behind just Deshaun Watson (whose whole $230 million deal was fully guaranteed) and Kyler Murray, who got $189.5 million.
A contract extension was all but guaranteed at some point during the offseason for Hurts, as the former second-round pick blossomed into a superstar during his third year in the league.
Eagles coaches and personnel have showered Hurts with praise throughout the offseason, with head coach Nick Sirianni giving him particularly high praise in January.
“It’s like having Michael Jordan out there,” Sirianni said of Hurts, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. “He’s your leader. He’s your guy.”
“The hardest part, for sure, is the scarcity of really good quarterbacks, and we got one, and we got a very special player,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said of Hurts in March.
Now, that “special player” is going to be playing football in Philadelphia for a long time.
This is the second long-term contract extension the Eagles have given to a quarterback in the last four years.
In 2019, Philadelphia gave then-Eagles QB Carson Wentz a four-year, $128 million contract extension, though he lasted less than two more seasons with the team after Hurts took over as the starter in 2020.
Philadelphia traded Wentz to the Colts before the 2021 season, clearing the way for Hurts to take over.
