Don't be fooled: Eagles are set at quarterback for 2026

The talk regarding Jalen Hurts and his future with the Philadelphia Eagles is always a hot one.

Hurts is entering the third year of his five-year, $255 million deal with the franchise -- a contract that pays out to an average of $51 million a season. Contracts are always altered due to player performance or the team's resilience to save significant amounts of cap space.

This isn't the case with Hurts. Not for 2026, and likely not for 2027.

Hurts has a guaranteed salary of $51.5 million this season, the first of two more years with a guaranteed salary. Added to that is a cap number of $31,971,800 (per Over The Cap).

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Then comes the 2027 season, the year where a conversation about Hurts' contract comes into question. Hurts has a guaranteed salary of $22 million, the final season the Eagles quarterback has a guaranteed figure in his contract -- the fourth year of the five-year deal. The cap number balloons to $42,132,800 for that season.

So Hurts is under a guaranteed salary for two more seasons. The Eagles have to restructure the deal or extend Hurts right? Not exactly, which is why they are set at quarterback.

Of course the 2026 season is crucial for Hurts. Each season is crucial for every starting quarterback in the NFL.

For all the discussion regarding Hurts' being a pocket quarterback, he finished fourth in the NFL in passer rating inside the pocket (104.2 rating). The completion percentage was just 16th (68.1%), but Hurts had 20 touchdowns to just four interceptions when throwing in the pocket.

Then there's the debate on pressure. Hurts was sixth in the NFL in passer rating when blitzed (109.2) and tied for third in touchdown passes (15). He completed 63.9% of passes with 15 touchdowns and three interceptions when blitzed, despite averaging 7.2 yards per attempt.

The Eagles offense has been risk averse with Hurts over the last two years, boasting their 42-3 record when winning the turnover battle under Nick Sirianni. They apply the century-old adage when it comes to football -- winning the turnover battle leads to winning games. Of course, that fell on their face in the wild card loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs last year (the Eagles were still 8-2 when winning the turnover battle).

Hurts has done what the Eagles have asked him to do when protecting the football. The numbers may not look sexy in the box score, but back-to-back NFC East championships and a Super Bowl title over the past two years show the system works.

The system is going to change in 2026 with Sean Mannion reinventing the offense, and for the better. Outside of Jahan Dotson's departure and a potential AJ Brown trade, the personnel is going to look mostly the same this season. The Eagles are banking on health and a revamped scheme to improve the offense in 2026 -- centered on Hurts having a better year throwing the football.

Hurts does have to improve his outside-the-pocket passing. His 77.6 rating was 20th in NFL, which was actually an improvement from 77.3 the season prior (23rd in NFL). The first-down passer rating of 97.7 (16th in NFL) can improve as well. The Eagles could improve their first-down runs and negative plays to combat this.

No matter what the conversation is, Hurts is the Eagles quarterback for 2026. He'll be under the microscope, but that's every year for every starting quarterback in the league.

The other quarterbacks in the quarterback room are set too. Tanner McKee is the No. 2 as quarterback jobs around the NFL are topping off, making it harder to trade him. Andy Dalton is the No. 3, as the Eagles aren't paying his full $4 million salary.

As for Hurts, there shouldn't be much discussion about his future until next season at the earliest. By then, the Eagles should have an idea what they want to do at the quarterback position.

Hurts is the Eagles quarterback for 2026. Likely for 2027 as well.

Enjoy this season watching Hurts. The Eagles may be in store to see the best version of Hurts yet.