Jalen Hurts' record-setting extension a priceless decision for Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles were thrilled to reach the Super Bowl, even though they lost it, but getting there once is never enough. Any organization that gets there wants to get there again. And almost all of them quickly learn that achieving greatness is much easier than maintaining it.

In the NFL, there's usually one big reason why that's true.

"The hardest part, for sure, is the scarcity of really good quarterbacks," Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said last month at the NFL owners meetings. "And we've got one. And we've got a very special player and individual in that position."

Lurie has now ensured the Eagles will have Jalen Hurts for quite a while.

[Jalen Hurts, Eagles agree to largest extension in NFL history]

The Eagles reaffirmed their commitment to their franchise quarterback with a blockbuster investment on Monday, signing the 24-year-old Hurts to a five-year, $255 million contract extension. The deal comes with $180 million in guaranteed money, a no-brainer of a no-trade clause and an average annual value of $51 million that makes him the highest-paid player in the history of the league.

That's a stunning amount for a player who has been to one Pro Bowl, hasn't won a Super Bowl or an MVP, and really only had one season — last season — that would place him even in the top half of quarterbacks in the league. But it reflects the Eagles' belief that Hurts is the perfect quarterback and leader for their franchise, and that he's only scratched the surface of his potential.

It also reflects the reality that quarterbacks like Hurts are hard — if not impossible — to find. And if a team is lucky enough to have one with Hurts' potential there really is no cost too high to keep him.

Think of it this way: Take a look around the NFL and there are maybe — just maybe — 15 teams with any kind of certainty at the quarterback position right now. Maybe 10 of them have a quarterback with realistic potential to lead their team to a championship. And probably only seven or eight of those quarterbacks would be considered elite.

Hurts proved last season that he is one of the elite few. He threw for 3,701 yards in 15 games and ran for 760 more. He had 22 passing touchdowns, 13 rushing touchdowns and only six interceptions. Most importantly, the Eagles were 14-1 when he played, and then won twice more in the playoffs before they narrowly lost Super Bowl LVII to the Chiefs, 38-35.

What would the Washington Commanders, the New York Jets, the Indianapolis Colts, the Atlanta Falcons, the Carolina Panthers or a dozen other teams pay for a quarterback like that? 

Finding a great quarterback is absolutely everything in the NFL. Teams can't win without one unless they've managed to build an all-time great defense.

Having an elite quarterback isn't necessarily a ticket to a championship. But not having one is a virtual guarantee that a team won't win one anytime soon.

That's why the Eagles made no secret of their intentions to do whatever it takes to make sure Hurts wouldn't leave in the foreseeable future, locking him up through 2028. Even better, there's a good chance that in a few years this blockbuster deal will look like a bargain. Cincinnati's Joe Burrow and the Chargers' Justin Herbert are due contract extensions next, and it's possible that Lamar Jackson will someday get the enormous payday he's seeking. It doesn't matter if any of them are better or more accomplished than Hurts. Every one of them will look at this deal and use it as a negotiating floor.

Even so, it won't necessarily be easy for the Eagles to keep building a championship roster with Hurts' mega-deal on their books. But things certainly could have been worse. They managed to convince Hurts not to seek a fully guaranteed deal like the one the Cleveland Browns gave to Deshaun Watson (and the one Lamar Jackson now wants). They also reportedly structured the deal so Hurts will be paid $64 million between this year and next year.

That's still a lot, but it's less than the $82 million the New York Giants will pay Daniel Jones.

All of which makes it a win-win on every front. Hurts gets rich beyond his wildest imagination and gets to stay with a franchise that is already one of the NFL's best, and the Eagles get to keep an elite player at the most important position in sports without destroying their books. Most importantly, barring an unfortunate injury, they won't have to spend the next five years doing what more than half the teams in the league are always doing — searching everywhere for an elite quarterback who often isn't there.

The Eagles don't have to worry about that now. They've got their Patrick Mahomes, their Aaron Rodgers, their Herbert or Burrow or Josh Allen. Yes, it cost them a small part of Lurie's fortune and a significant part of their future salary cap. But they are convinced that Hurts is worth every penny of that $255 million.

"The thing with Jalen that I'm so optimistic about is he's just got this incredible passion for being phenomenal," Lurie said last month. "You see that in the great ones. We all know in other sports and with certain quarterbacks in this league, you can define them by their obsession with detail and work ethic.

"I think the future is so great for him."

And now the Eagles' future is tied to his greatness, which gives them a peace of mind that some franchises spend years, if not decades, trying to achieve. It is probably worth more than $255 million just for the Eagles to know they're not one of the teams still searching for a player like Hurts. That search can be agonizing. It can feel endless. It can cost a fortune spent on the wrong players.

That's why once the Eagles were convinced that Hurts was the guy, they were willing to do whatever was necessary to keep him. It was worth whatever they had to spend to keep their franchise off the quarterback carousel. Because that can be hell.

And for an NFL franchise, avoiding that hell is absolutely priceless.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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