Jalen Hurts finished runner-up to Patrick Mahomes in AP NFL MVP voting and lost again to him when Mahomes' Kansas City Chiefs beat Hurts' Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl.
Hurts and the Eagles are set to sign one of the richest deals in NFL history, agreeing to a five-year, $255 million extension, including $179.3 million guaranteed, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Monday because the deal was not yet final.
The Eagles announced later Monday on social media that “QB1 is here to stay."
“Keeping the main thing in Philly,” they tweeted, referencing one of Hurts' mottos. “We’ve agreed to terms with Jalen Hurts on a 5-year extension through the 2028 season.”
The 24-year-old Hurts was expected to receive $51 million per season — topping Mahomes and Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers — and only Cleveland's Deshaun Watson ($230M) and Arizona's Kyler Murray ($189.5M) received more in a single contract.
“Our job in this league is go out there and win football games and make money while doing it, and I'm glad the guys dong it the right way are getting the job security they deserve,” Mahomes said Monday.
Those numbers could be topped soon depending on how the contract situation between the Baltimore Ravens and QB Lamar Jackson plays out. In a series of tweets, the star quarterback said he requested a trade as of March 2. On March 7, the Ravens put the nonexclusive franchise tag on Jackson and said they were still hopeful they could reach a long-term deal with him.
If Jackson does come back without a new deal, he could play this season on Baltimore’s $32.4 million franchise tag.
Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert and Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow could each look to Hurts' deal as a framework for their looming extensions.
The Eagles know where Hurts will be this season.
Hurts delivered a record performance in the Super Bowl, throwing for 304 yards and a touchdown, running for 70 yards and three scores, and adding a game-tying 2-point conversion. Hurts and Mahomes were the first Black QBs to face off in a Super Bowl.
“He's someone that plays the position the right way, he goes about his business the right way,” Mahomes said. “That's why they were in the Super Bowl, and he played a great game in the Super Bowl, and proved a lot of people wrong that were still doubting him. It's great for the quarterback position, the Black quarterbacks coming up behind us. We know about Lamar and the situation there, getting these guys the deals they deserve.”
Philadelphia went 14-1 in Hurts' starts and he had 3,701 yards passing, 760 yards rushing and 35 touchdowns combined in the regular season. He led the Eagles to the top seed in the NFC and a playoff victory over the New York Giants and over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game.
The Eagles went 0-2 when Hurts sat out two late-season games because of a sprained right shoulder.
The Eagles stunned fans when they drafted Hurts out of Oklahoma in the second round in 2020. They seemingly had Carson Wentz entrenched at QB and had more pressing needs. Hurt was expected to serve as insurance for Wentz. Instead, he supplanted him and became one of the top young quarterbacks in the NFL.
Hurts' teammates were thrilled to have him back in Philly for years to come.
“Dinner on @JalenHurts!" right tackle Lane Johnson tweeted, along with money-bag emojis.
“my birthday is coming up at the right time!!!” tweeted wide receiver A.J Brown.
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman and agent Nicole Lynn negotiated the deal with Hurts, who was set to enter the 2023 season on the final year of his rookie contract. He didn't become the full-time starter until 2021.
Now, the Eagles can't imagine any other player taking the snaps.
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AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi in Florida and AP Sports Writer Dave Skretta in Missouri contributed to this report.
Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Beyond the Spotlight,' a biography series about the intriguing people who capture our attention, fill our social feeds, and shape pop culture.
"Anything Is Possible," a documentary about NBA superstar Kevin Garnett recounting his career from being drafted out of high school to a championship with the Boston Celtics, is set to premiere on Showtime. Executive producer Marc Levin and co-directors Daniel Levin and Eric Newman joined Cheddar to provide some background on the project and discuss Garnett's legacy. With KG considered a pioneer for modern NBA draftees straight out of high school (the fifth pick in 1995), the filmmakers also discussed the possibility of the league reversing course on its current rule that requires a player to be at least 19-years-old and a year removed from high school to play.
Professional sports is facing a reckoning right now over several stories painting an ugly picture of a toxic work environment, encompassing multiple teams in multiple leagues and dealing with different issues.
This week, the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks ousted their general manager and senior director of hockey operations after an investigation confirmed former player Kyle Beach's claims that the team's former video coach Brad Aldrich sexual assaulted him back in 2010, with upper management ignoring his claims until after the team won the Stanley Cup that season. Last night, Joel Quenneville, now the coach of the Florida Panthers but Chicago's coach that season, stepped down from his post.
This comes just a few weeks after the NFL was rocked by leaked emails showing now-former Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden using racist, sexist and homophobic language. He resigned soon after the emails came to light. We can't forget, though, that those emails come from a much broader investigation of the toxic work environment in the offices of the Washington Football Team. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said this week the league wouldn't publicly release anything from its investigation of the team, but lawyers for many of the women interviewed in the case say they want a public report.
And last January, just one month after hiring him, the New York Mets had to fire then-General manager Jared Porter, who admitted to sending explicit, unsolicited texts and images to a female reporter in 2016 when he worked for the Chicago Cubs. ESPN had been in possession of the texts since 2017, but the woman in question asked the network not to run the story out of fear her career would be harmed. She only reached back out to ESPN after she left the field of journalism altogether. Porter has been banned from the sport through next season.
If you believe in the phrase "where there's smoke, there's fire," professional sports is a five-alarm blaze.
Julie DiCaro, senior writer and editor at Deadspin, joins None of the Above to discuss.
Jill and Carlo discuss the scenes of joy at American airports as borders reopen, another tool in the Covid toolbox, the latest in the Astroworld crowd crush tragedy and more.
Gaming technology studio Mythical Games recently raised $150 million in a round led by Andreesen Horowitz, bringing Mythical's valuation to above unicorn status at $1.2 billion. Mythical Games' mission is to create a new generation of gaming with play-to-earn games that allow players to play to win actual cryptocurrency. Now the company is taking it to another level with NFT technology, allowing players to play with characters they can truly own. Mythical Games CEO John Linden joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Evan Vandenberg, the founder and CEO of Dibbs, a sports card trading platform, joined Cheddar to break down how his company allows sports fans to buy and sell fractions of sports cards. The physical trading cards are typically held in a vault while fans are provided with a digital representation of that card that they can go on to sell or even buy more fractions of the item. Vanderberg also talked about the company's $13 million Series A funding round and investments from major sports figures like the NBA's Chris Paul and NFL's DeAndre Hopkins.
A Freitag pod with Carlo and Baker, talking about the upcoming federal vax-or-test deadline, the most shocking upset of this week's elections, an incredible story of selflessness and Love, Hate, Ate.
