Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) pumps up his teammates in a huddle before playing the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Feb. 12, 2023. Nfl Super Bowl Lvii Kansas City Chiefs Vs Philadelphia Eagles
Eagles star signs eye-watering $380 million contract, becoming highest-paid NFL player ever.
Think of a new quarterback market.
According to numerous reports, the Philadelphia Eagles and star quarterback Jalen Hurts reached an enormous contract agreement on Monday morning, giving him a new deal for five years and a staggering $255 million ($AUD380 million), making him the highest-paid player in NFL history with an average salary of $51 million ($AUD76 million) per year.
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A no-trade clause and guarantees totaling $179.3 million are included in the contract.
Hurts, 24, had an outstanding season in 2022 for the Eagles, helping them win the Super Bowl.
During the regular season, the NFC Pro Bowler passed for 3,701 yards, 22 touchdowns, and six interceptions. He also rushed for 760 yards and 13 more scores.
The quarterback, a product of Alabama and Oklahoma, also had an outstanding Super Bowl, completing 71% of his throws for 301 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions in a game that the Eagles just barely lost to the Chiefs, 38-35.
The fourth-year quarterback was given a contract by general manager Howie Roseman 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 off-season.
Additionally, the $179.3 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 off-season 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 off-season, 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.
