In four short weeks, the question regarding Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts has changed from whether he’s the quarterback of the future, to how much his next contract might end up costing the Eagles.
It’s possible that the Eagles will try to sign Hurts to an extension during the offseason. And with the way Hurts is playing, those talks might begin with the $46 million average per season that Hurts’ counterpart on Sunday, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, signed for over the summer.
In all, Murray got a five-year deal worth $230.5 million, with $160 million guaranteed.
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This scenario seemed ludicrous last January after Hurts threw three interceptions in the Eagles’ playoff loss to the Buccaneers. Back then, there was speculation that the Eagles might try to parlay their plethora of first-round draft picks this year and next to trade for someone like Russell Wilson or Deshaun Watson.
Both, by the way, signed extensions in the $46-$49 million average range with their new teams. The Eagles have to be breathing a big sigh of relief that Wilson and Watson made it clear that they didn’t want to be traded to Philadelphia, thus making the Eagles’ decision to stick with Hurts an easy one.
It should be noted that Hurts still has one more year remaining on his rookie contract. That counts just $1.6 million on the salary cap this season and $1.9 million on the cap in 2023.
For now, let’s look past how poorly Wilson has played this season, and that Watson is still serving an 11-game NFL suspension for violating the personal conduct policy, and focus on Murray.
And let’s look past the “homework clause” nonsense that the Cardinals ended up removing from Murray’s contract once they realized how bad it made both the team and Murray look. The original contract stipulated that Murray had to spend at least four hours each week studying video during the season or risk forfeiting a large part of the guaranteed money.
Studying, of course, has never been Hurts’ problem. Accuracy, decision-making and arm strength have been.
Not anymore. Or at least so far, as Eagles receiver A.J. Brown can attest.
Hurts revealed Monday night on the Manningcast that he studies Tom Brady video. That’s in addition to the video study Hurts does on the game plan (you can bet that it’s more than the 4 hours that Murray was originally required to do).
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“That’s the competitive nature in him,” Brown said. “(Brady) says everyone works on things they’re good at, so work on things you’re not good at. To many guys, that’s so cliché to say, but a lot of people really don’t work on their negatives, their flaws. That’s what (Hurts) does.”
Look at the results.
In his first two seasons, consisting of 19 starts, Hurts completed 59.0% of his passes. He’s at 66.7% this season.
As for arm strength and decision-making, Hurts has thrown for 1,120 yards this season, fifth among QBs, on pace for 4,760 yards. The Eagles’ single-season record for yards passing in a season is 4,039 yards, set by Carson Wentz in 2019.
Hurts’ passer rating is 99.6. His career high was 87.2 last season.
The yardage is actually a little less than what Hurts had thrown for through the first four games last season. Hurts had thrown for 1,167 yards and completed 66.2%, with a rating of 101.1.
The difference is that Hurts leads the NFL in yards per attempt at 9.11, compared to 8.05 at the same point last season. And the Eagles are 4-0, compared to 1-3.
Murray’s stats through four games are not nearly as good. Murray got the contract based on his running and accuracy. Murray completed 66.9% of his passes through his first three seasons, from 2019-21, with a passer rating of 93.9. He’s at 65.3% this season, and his rating is 85.2.
Sure, you can make the argument that Murray’s stats are lower this season in large part because top receiver DeAndre Hopkins is serving a six-game suspension (he won’t play against the Eagles). But Murray’s stats without Hopkins are similar to Hurts’ stats before the Eagles got Brown.
In other words, if Hurts can keep up this level of play on the NFL’s only unbeaten team, and lead the Eagles deep into the playoffs, Murray might not even be the comparison point for a new contract.
It might be the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, who last month reportedly turned down a five-year deal worth $250 million.
3 questions with Cameron Dicker, international man of mystery
The Eagles will have a new kicker when they play the Cardinals in Cameron Dicker, who’s replacing the injured Jake Elliott.
It just so happens that Dicker was born in Hong Kong, grew up in Shanghai, and wasn’t familiar with former Eagles QB and Super Bowl hero Nick Foles even though the two attended the same high school in Austin, Texas, albeit about 7 years apart.
Question: What do you know about Nick Foles after attending the same high school?
Dicker: I honestly have not watched football much in my life. I’m a soccer fan, so I didn’t really care too much. It’s kind of like, ‘Yeah, he was there.’ It’s something you know about. But it wasn’t anything that was big in my life.”
Q: Why is Liverpool your Premier League team?
Dicker: I grew up in Shanghai, China, and my best friends were all from England. So they were Liverpool fans. Their dads were (Manchester) United fans, so I decided I’m going with the kids.
Q: Why was your family in Shanghai?
Dicker: I was born in Hong Kong. My dad is in supply chain management. And so, I was there for 11 years.
Prediction
In many respects, the Eagles should beat the Cardinals. They have the No. 2 offense in the NFL, and have totaled at least 400 yards in each of their first four games. That is only the seventh time since 1970 that a team has done that while winning each of their first four games.
But the Cardinals do present problems. While Arizona only has 4 sacks this season, there’s no doubt that J.J. Watt, who has 2 of them, will line up opposite Jack Driscoll, who’s replacing Jordan Mailata at left tackle. Mailata is listed as doubtful. That will be a big test for Driscoll, who before last Sunday only played two games at left tackle − as a redshirt freshman at UMass in 2016.
On offense, Murray might not run as often as he did in 2020, when he gained 819 yards. But he has shown that he can run around the pocket until he finds a receiver. The Eagles haven’t faced a mobile quarterback like Murray this season, meaning the defensive backs will have to stay with their receivers longer.
Also, State Farm Stadium has been a house of horrors for the Eagles. They are 0-5, including playoffs, since the building opened. And with Elliott out, you just know that it’ll come down to Dicker having to try a potential game-winning 54-yard field goal in the final seconds.
It won’t end well.
Score: Cardinals 29, Eagles 27.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
