PHILADELPHIA − It’s easy to reminisce about how the Rams and the Eagles used the top two picks in the 2016 NFL draft to select what they thought would be franchise quarterbacks in Jared Goff and Carson Wentz.
Six years later, both are in the equivalent of QB Siberia − Goff with the Detroit Lions, whom the Eagles face Sunday in the season opener, and Wentz, on his third team in three seasons, with the Washington Commanders.
Meanwhile, the Eagles have much higher expectations this season with Jalen Hurts at quarterback.
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There is a lesson there, but it’s not that the Eagles and Rams made mistakes by drafting Wentz and Goff. Both quarterbacks accomplished the objective of such a high draft pick − taking their teams to the Super Bowl.
And they both did it within their first three seasons. If the expectations for the Eagles are to be believed, Hurts could do that this season, his second as a full-time starter and third overall in the NFL.
Wentz did it in his second season, 2017, although you have to add the caveat that he tore his ACL in Week 14. But Wentz had led the Eagles to an 11-2 record when he was injured, and he was well on pace to being named the league’s MVP.
Goff led the Rams to the Super Bowl the next season although they lost to New England in the championship game 13-3.
The lesson came afterward because both quarterbacks had to be paid. That’s just a fact for a quarterback on a rookie contract who takes his team to the Super Bowl.
So the Eagles made Wentz the highest-paid QB in the NFL in June, 2019, signing him to a four-year extension worth as much as $128 million. A few months later, Goff surpassed him when the Rams gave him an extension worth as much as $132 million.
It just so happens that Hurts is one season away from being in his contract year.
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Hurts won’t command the nearly $50 million per year that players like Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson and Kyler Murray are getting now. But Hurts did take the Eagles to the playoffs in his first season as a starter. If the Eagles go even further this year, it’s not out of the question to see Hurts getting something comparable to what Wentz and Goff got.
The lesson, then, is not sticking too long with a quarterback on a big contract. Both the Eagles and Rams moved on quickly from Wentz and Goff, even though it was costly to both teams.
The Eagles, after all, hold the NFL record for most “dead money” when Wentz counted $34.7 million against their salary cap in 2021 despite playing for Indianapolis.
But that money was off the Eagles’ books last spring, when the Eagles used it to trade for and sign wide receiver A.J. Brown, sign pass rusher Haason Reddick, cornerback James Bradberry. Just last week, they traded for safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.
The Eagles did all this while Hurts counts just $1.6 million on the salary cap. Hurts will count $1.9 million next year, the final year of his contract.
In 2020, Wentz was one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL in completion percentage and passer rating. He tied for the most interceptions in the NFL despite getting benched for Hurts for the final 4 1/2 games.
Goff, meanwhile, regressed after the Super Bowl season. His passer rating went from 101.1 in 2018 to 86.5 in 2019. He wasn’t much better in 2020. The Rams saw an opportunity to upgrade with Matthew Stafford, so they traded Goff and two first-round picks to the Lions. And they ate $22 million in dead money.
Stafford led the Rams to a Super Bowl victory in his first season in L.A., while the Lions are coming off a 3-14 season. That included a 44-6 loss to the Eagles on Oct. 31.
Sure, the Lions and Goff should be better this season, but it’s hard to see them contending for the playoffs.
“The more you’re with certain coaches and certain players, the more you’re going to get better,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “I have a lot of respect for Jared Goff and the things that he’s done in this league.”
But that holds true for Hurts, too, in his second season under Sirianni. But Hurts is not consumed with the expectations. That’s what he calls “rat poison.”
“Nothing matters but us,” Hurts said. “To take steps as a football team, we just have to go to work every day. We don’t want to make it any harder than it is.”
That applies for the future, too.
Not knocking ‘Hard Knocks’
The effusive Campbell was the star of the annual summer HBO series, “Hard Knocks” as viewers got an inside look at the Detroit Lions through training camp.
Yet Campbell said he didn’t watch the show. Sirianni certainly did.
“We watch everything,” he said. “We’re going to listen to media broadcasts of what the Lions do. You are doing everything you can do to turn over every single stone to see if you can get an advantage. The parity in this league is so tight and so small, and the margin of error is so small.”
But that wasn’t the only place where the two coaches diverged.
Campbell is a firm believer in hitting in practice, and in playing his starters in the preseason games. That backfired somewhat when right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai, an ex-Eagle, aggravated a back injury in the preseason finale and went on injured reserve.
“When you’re talking about a 17-week season with pads, you have to get in some type of shape,” Campbell said. “You can’t go from not hitting and only getting 20-30 reps at practice, and all of a sudden you just played 75 (snaps) in your first two weeks. I think you’re asking for injury.”
Sirianni, meanwhile, didn’t have live hitting except for joint practice sessions with the Browns and Dolphins. And he only played his starters for one series in the first preseason game.
Which way is better? We’ll find out Sunday.
Prediction
During the offseason, the Lions added defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, the No. 2 pick in the draft and signed free agent wide receiver DJ Chark.
They return wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who had 912 yards receiving as a rookie, only four yards fewer than DeVonta Smith in his rookie season with the Eagles.
Is that enough to overcome a 44-6 loss last season, against an Eagles team that also improved?
“We’ve acknowledged to our players that this is a team that can make you look silly because they did it to us last year,” he said. “If we’re not on the details and we’re not playing with effort, we’ll get embarrassed because that’s what Philly’s capable of.”
No, the Eagles won’t win 44-6. But with Brown making his debut on offense, and with a much more talented defense, the Eagles will win rather handily.
Score: Eagles 34, Lions 17.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
