Jalen Hurts reveals why he didn’t want fully-guaranteed contract from Eagles
Jalen Hurts explained why he did not sign a fully-guaranteed deal with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Although Jalen Hurts could have really gotten the bag from the Philadelphia Eagles, apparently, some things are more important that cold, hard cash, baby!
Oh, no doubt about it, the Eagles’ breakout star quarterback got paid handsomely. The former second-round pick out of Oklahoma by way of Alabama got a five-year deal worth $225 million. While he did net $179.399 million in guaranteed money, Hurts did leave some on the table. His answer to why he decided against getting the $225 million fully guaranteed is utterly fascinating.
Hurts cited that “it takes a village” to remain one of the best teams in football and that “money is nice” but “championships are better.”
For a guy who played with absolute superstars in college, Hurts clearly gets the big picture here.
Why Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts did not take a fully-guaranteed contract
Not to say getting your teammates paid before yourself the good, old-fashioned Tom Brady way is the correct manner to go about these sort of things, but good for you, dude! By taking seemingly less, it will allow for Eagles general manager Howie Roseman to spread some of the financial capital around to help maintain a winning product on the field. I appreciate Hurts’ self-awareness.
He may have excellent dual-threat playmaking abilities and outstanding leadership traits, but he is not a thermostat. Hurts is more of a thermometer than anything. He can tell you the temperature in the room, but may not have it in him to change the entire dynamic of the place simply upon arrival. In short, he knows he needs elite talent around him to have consistent success in the NFL.
Not getting all he could may help the Eagles offset the dreaded Super Bowl hangover, but they are way more likely to sustain one than the Kansas City Chiefs. It has nothing to do with the Eagles, but rather the Chiefs being the Chiefs. The hope is Philadelphia builds off last year’s overwhelming success like the Cincinnati Bengals did after their loss. Maybe the Chiefs will L.A. Rams fat cat it?
Philadelphia’s Super Bowl window is still open, but you have to understand what happens when you pay your star quarterback who was once on a rookie contract big money; it can’t go elsewhere. Hurts may be willing to share his bigger piece of the pie, but the pie itself didn’t grow as much as he took from it. This is the ongoing conundrum of a collision sport using a hard salary cap, folks!
May these millions of non-guaranteed money Hurts gave up help sustain the Eagles in the future.
