Hurts Deal Set Bar High for Young QBs Like Tua

The stakes were raised by Jalen Hurts’ play last season, and this offseason the Philadelphia Eagles’ starting quarterback has elevated the price tag for football’s most important position.

Hurts’ new contract, which could pay him $255 million over the next five seasons, sets a new bar at $51 million a season for the next wave of quarterbacks, including Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins, seeking multi-year extensions.

Instead of the fully guaranteed deal Cleveland gave Deshaun Watson last offseason, which pays him $230 million over five seasons, expect the representatives for Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Tagovailoa to use Hurts new contract as the benchmark they hope to surpass.

Hurts' deal reportedly has $179.304 million in total guarantees, including $110 million fully guaranteed at signing, and $126.5 million fully guaranteed by March 2024.

The Eagles’ 24-year-old quarterback also can earn an additional $15 million in incentives, giving him an opportunity to make as much as $274.304 million through 2028.

After leading the Eagles to the Super Bowl, Philadelphia was committed to locking up the two-time Pro Bowl selection on a long-term deal to prevent him from playing for the $4.3 million he was slated to earn in the final year of his rookie deal as a 2020 second-round pick.

Because Hurt wasn't a first-round pick, the Eagles didn’t have the luxury of using a fifth-year option, which is what Miami triggered early for Tagovailoa this offseason, committing to pay the quarterback who unseated Hurts as the starter at Alabama $23.2 million in 2024.

DOLPHINS HAVE TAGOVAILOA AT CHEAP PRICE FOR NEXT TWO SEASONS

At this rate, that fifth-year option price will be viewed as a bargain if Tagovailoa has a healthy 2023 season and replicates what he was able to accomplish in 2022 when he was the NFL’s top-rated passer and a league leader in most of the position’s important statistical categories.

It’s likely that the Chargers and Bengals will follow Miami’s lead, triggering the fifth-year option for Herbert and Burrow if they can’t agree to a multi-year deal, following Hurts’ lead. Because Herbert and Burrow both have been Pro Bowl selections, their fifth-year option is $29.5 million.

However, based on the present quarterback market, it’s likely that Herbert and Burrow will be looking for an extension that pays them something north of $46 million a season, which is where Watson’s deal sits.

Based on what is being reported of Hurts’ deal, he’ll likely earn $51 million a season if the contract isn’t reworked in the coming years.

Buffalo’s Josh Allen averages $43 million a season on the six-year, $258 million deal he signed in 2021.

The Kansas City Chiefs gave Patrick Mahomes a 10-year, $450 million deal in 2021 that averages $45 million a season.

Last offseason, Russell Wilson received a five-year, $242.5 million extension from the Denver Broncos, who traded for the nine-time Pro Bowl selection that offseason. Wilson’s deal, which had $161 million guaranteed ($124 million of it guaranteed at signing), averages $48.5 million a season.

But they all trail Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, who earns $50.2 million a season because of the three-year, $150.8 million extension the Packers gave the 39-year-old quarterback last offseason. Green Bay and the New York Jets are working on a trade that would move Rodgers to the Jets this offseason.

The Ravens and Jackson also are working on a long-term deal that would prevent the two-time Pro Bowl selection and 2019 MVP from playing on the franchise tag, which was set at $32.4 million this season.

It’s possible that Hurts’ new deal could be used as a template for Jackson.

It's possible that Miami could use a franchise tag to lock up Tagovailoa up after 2024, but that would mean he'll make $56-60 million over the course of the 2024 and 2025 seasons if he agrees to play on it, though at that point it's more likely he and his agent would be pushing for a long-term deal.