Jalen Hurts Has Been Lighting It Up – Is That Bad News for the Eagles?
When Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson benched quarterback Carson Wentz in favor of rookie Jalen Hurts in the 3rd quarter against the Green Bay Packers, an internal doomsday clock began ticking.
After Hurts was named the starter and ended up beating the NFL’s #1 ranked defense in New Orleans a week later with a promising-yet-pedestrian 17/30 for 160 yards and a touchdown, along with 106 rushing yards, the ticking only became louder.
And now this week, even after a loss to the Arizona Cardinals, where Hurts put together a showcase of his potential with 338 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, and another on the ground for a 102.3 passer rating, the clock is running at full-speed to what will be one of the most convoluted and controversial offseason the Philadelphia Eagles have had in a long time.
It’s no secret that as the Eagles’ previous starter, Wentz had been downright abysmal this year.
Pro Football Focus has him at 20th in yards at 2650, 20th in touchdowns with 16, but first in interceptions with 15 (yes, he still leads the league despite not playing for 2 weeks). After the BYE week, he lost 3 straight games and was well on his way to losing the 4th against the Packers after throwing for less than 80 total yards in the first half. He eclipsed a 60% completion percentage only twice this year, and outside of a standout performance against the Giants in Week 8, his game-high for yards was a paltry 270 against the Washington Football team in Week 1, a game where he also threw 2 costly interceptions and took SIX sacks. 2020 was not a kind year for Wentz, being sacked more than any other quarterback in football (50 times by the time he was benched, 10 more sacks than second-place Russell Wilson with 40), never losing his lead in interceptions thrown, and leading the Eagles to their worst record since Andy Reid’s last year in 2012 where they went 4-12.
Photo: YONG KIM/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Jalen Hurts, on the other hand, has been electrifying. In relief of Wentz against Green Bay and the weeks since, Hurts has shown an ability to march the team down the field with ease, showing poise, control, and command of an offense, which at that point was listless and uninspired. He hasn’t been afraid to push the ball downfield and has shown tremendous chemistry with young and older players alike (cough Alshon cough). In a season of frankly dismal football, Hurts has been the spark Philadelphia has been begging for.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a good thing.
Jalen Hurts is a Band-Aid on MUCH bigger, more gaping wounds in the Eagles organization than simply bad quarterback play. Starting with an organizational perspective, the Eagles are in a bad bind with General Manager Howie Roseman. Hurt’s success would lend credence to the idea that Howie knows what he’s doing or playing some form of 4-D chess with the Eagles drafting strategy. But it’s worth considering that maybe drafting a 22-year-old rookie quarterback in the 2nd round a mere 8 months after giving your 27-year-old franchise quarterback a mega-contract might be the reason the Eagles are having some of the problems they are. These roster problems they are going to have this offseason are complete of their own making. Howie has been a lousy drafter since the departure of Joe Douglas, with only a handful of his picks, like TE Dallas Goedert, T Jordan Mailata, DE Josh Sweat, and RB Miles Sanders becoming regular contributors. Howies decision to take Hurts in the 2020 draft a mere 3 months after Wentz dragged a literal practice squad to a playoff berth may be another check on a long list of draft blunders and is one of the biggest reasons the Eagles are now mired in QB controversy. So even with Hurts playing well, the question remains, what do they do with Carson?
Well, to start, they likely can’t get rid of him. According to Eliot Shor-Parks of 94WIP, the Eagles are already looking at being 46-66 million dollars over the salary cap in 2021 after an NFL/NFLPA renegotiation over the salary cap due to the COVID19 pandemic. They can cut that number down with the inevitable releases of WRs DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery, and Marquise Goodwin, the potential release or restructure of TE Zach Ertz, and a new contract for former 1st Round DE Derek Barnett, but suffice it to say the Eagles are in a tricky, if not downright dangerous cap situation.
Not to mention how few young players with large contracts there are to extend, providing some breathing room: 10 of the Eagles 14 largest contracts are for players 30 or older, and few if any of them are worth restructuring (or restructuring again in some cases) for long term commitments. As for Wentz, he’s good for a 34 million dollar dead-cap hit if he is cut or traded, anywhere from 15-30% of the entire salary cap just in dead money to Wentz alone.
For a team in such dire straits, as the Eagles are cap-wise, that number is intolerable. And after his play this year and the contract he’s carrying, he’s nigh-on untradeable; he and the Eagles command no leverage in his trade market. Like it or not, this blog writer is convinced that there’s no way the Eagles get rid of Wentz this offseason; he costs too much to get rid of. (This is especially considering they weren’t willing to move on from old, decrepit, bad-attitude Alshon for a fraction of the cap hit Wentz would be).
So what are the other options?
If Hurts continues to play well (he will have his hands full keeping up with a surging Dallas offense next week and the crushing defense of the WFT in the season finale), then the Eagles have to be looking at a full-blown QB competition next summer. Hurts with the momentum, Wentz with the pedigree. Hurts will likely be the favorite, based on their 2020 performances, but there’s reason to believe Doug has a remaining soft spot for his starting QB, and the battle for QB1 will likely last well into next year’s Training Camp.
But then there’s this: a report by Adam Schefter before yesterday’s game reporting that Wentz wants out of Philadelphia if he isn’t the starter in 2021. A far cry from the typically humble, mild-mannered Wentz, but not exactly unjustified either, with Schefter reporting Wentz is “not pleased with the way events have unfolded in the organization,” likely meaning the drafting of Hurts even after his late-season heroics in 2019.
They could also look to flip Hurts for a playmaker or additional draft capital if he continues to play well. Quarterback-needy teams aren’t scarce in the NFL, with teams like Denver, Carolina, and New England all probably keeping a close eye on the markets. That solves the problem of the QB competition, but not the controversy, as that means the Eagles are betting the house that this year was an anomaly for Wentz, not his new normal, which many fans might find untenable.
There are a LOT of flaws in the Philadelphia Eagles going into the 2021 offseason, but none loom nearly as large as this QB problem. Hurts has been an electrifying player in his 2 starts; there’s no denying that. And Wentz has been abjectly terrible this season, and there’s no denying that either.
Nothing is given, everything is earned in the National Football League, and Wentz, for the time being, has played himself out of the starting quarterback conversation.
But the Eagles other glaring problems, like the salary cap disaster, an aging and expensive roster, poor drafting, poor game managing, lousy special teams (cough Jake Elliot cough), no offensive identity, a porous secondary relying on one 31-year-old stud, and a revolving door at offensive line, will not even begin to be addressed until the Eagles figure out this QB controversy that Howie alone has caused for himself.
I’d wish him luck if I didn’t want Howie fired immediately (into the sun, preferably).
Featured Image: YONG KIM/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
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