Jalen Hurts on impending contract extension: "I care about winning championships"

As the dust settles on the Philadelphia Eagles loss in Super Bowl LVII, questions about the future of the franchise are inevitable. The biggest component to those future plans is their quarterback Jalen Hurts and his impending contract extension.

Since Hurts was drafted in the second-round back in 2020, there is no fifth-year option attached to his rookie deal. He’ll be entering the final year of his contract in 2023, where he’s set to have a base salary of $4.3 million, per Spotrac. Based on some of the recent QB deals we’ve seen over the past year or two, Spotrac estimates that Hurts’ market value sits at roughly $44.2 million per year.

Jalen Hurts has more than earned that kind of contract. Especially after the performance he gave in the Super Bowl, where he was the best player on the field for either team and earned the second-best Pro Football Focus grade for any QB in Super Bowl history.

At this point, I’m sure most Eagles fans are willing to give Hurts a blank check. But in Hurts’ mind, it doesn’t appear that he’s overly worried about the money.

As the team returned to the NovaCare Complex Tuesday, reporters were patiently waiting at Hurts’ locker to talk to the QB and, of course, get his thoughts on his potential extension.

Jalen Hurts: “I care about winning championships”

Jalen Hurts when asked about a contract this offseason: #Eagles pic.twitter.com/kHHaHAa8qV
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) February 14, 2023

“The thing that I’m most focused on is winning,” Jalen Hurts said. “The only thing I care about is winning, and ultimately, winning championships. There will be a day where that conversation [about a contract extension] can be had, but today isn’t that day.”

As a fan, it’s easy for us to say, “just take a paycut for the team!” But we all know that’s not the reality of this business and very few players actually sacrifice their earnings for the sake of winning.

We also know that Jalen Hurts is a different breed of competitor.

Taking less money for the sake of winning would be amazing from a team building perspective, obviously. But it’s now apparent that Hurts is the most important piece on this team and deserves the hefty pay day he could be in for.

It’ll be interesting to see how these contract talks unfold throughout the offseason.