Roseman looking for long-term deal with Hurts
The Eagles will do whatever it takes to free up salary cap space and extend the contract of franchise quarterback Jalen Hurts, who followed a near MVP season with a stellar performance in the Super Bowl LVII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Hurts is in line for crazy money as the exclusive franchise tag, which is the average of the top five quarterback salaries in the NFL, is $45 million a year.
“We want to keep our best players here for the long term,” Howie Roseman said Thursday. “And he’s certainly one of our best players. So that’s something where we’ll keep all the contract talks internal, but we’d definitely like to keep Jalen Hurts here long term.”
For a model of how to stay at the top after making a mega-bucks commitment the Eagles need look no further than the Chiefs. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes had a cap hit of $36 million in 2022 yet the Chiefs rolled with young players, rookie draft picks and select veterans to reach the Super Bowl for the third time in four years, and win it for the second time in that span. Mahomes counts $47 million against the cap in 2023.
Roseman was quick to point out that the Eagles have two picks in the first round (10 and 31) and with 18 free agents are in line for a handful of interesting compensatory draft picks in 2024. They also stayed away from extending player contracts during the season.
“We knew we needed to get additional picks,” Roseman said. “That’s one of the reasons that we made the trade last year (with the Saints for a first-round pick), was to make sure we have picks going forward.”
The Eagles also are expecting their rookies to step up, a group that includes defensive tackle Jordan Davis, linebacker Nakobe Dean and center Cam Jurgens, depending on Jason Kelce’s status. There’s a chance he could retire.
“All of those guys are ready to play if we need them and they can play a variety of roles,” Roseman said. “So that doesn’t mean that we can’t bring back the veteran players at those positions. … Those guys are ready. They were ready to play this year. They just had great guys in front of them.”
The Eagles haven’t ruled out bringing back “some of the greatest players not only to play on our team this year but in this franchise,” according to Roseman, who didn’t name names.
“We’d love to have some of those guys back,” Roseman said.
That short list would likely include Kelce, defensive end Brandon Graham and possibly defensive tackle Fletcher Cox.
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Whomever the next offensive coordinator is, he will call the plays. Sirianni likes the CEO approach of overseeing the entire in-game operation and the success it’s generated since he turned the play-calling over to Shane Steichen seven games into the 2021 season.
“For me, what works is this,” Sirianni said. “And I’ll continue doing it that way. That’s the plan.”
Steichen became head coach of the Indianapolis Colts this week, signing a six-year contract. At this early stage, Eagles quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson is among the candidates to be offensive coordinator. His constructive working relationship with Hurts would seem to be a plus.
The search to fill the shoes of defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, who became head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, also will begin in-house and then outside the organization, according to Sirianni.
“We’ll look at every option to make sure we’re getting the best people in here to help our team,” he said. “We’re going to do what’s best for the Philadelphia Eagles.”
The defensive coordinator doesn’t necessarily have to run the 5-2 scheme preferred by Gannon. That defense was very good against the pass but couldn’t stop the run.
“I’m naturally going to have things that I’m going to require the next defensive coordinator to do but I also know that I’m hiring somebody to do their job to the best of their abilities, and that’s why I’m hiring them,” Sirianni said. “There’s going to be little changes, little differences. But, again, I guess my long way of answering that is I’m not opposed to changing.”
Of course, Roseman will be involved in the hiring of the coordinators. Sirianni has no problem with that.
“Just like we discuss everything in the season,” Sirianni
said, “we discuss everything in the offseason. We’re going to discuss everything. We have so many bright minds here, and it’s a team sport.”
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Sirianni didn’t hesitate when asked if special teams coach Michael Clay will be back next season. The special teams had more ups than downs, the Super Bowl record 65-yard punt return by the Chiefs’ Kadarius Toney among them in the latter category.
“Yes, he will,” Sirianni said. “I thought we did a nice job as far as just improving. We had some rocky beginnings in special teams, and I thought we did a nice job improving those special teams as the year went along. A lot of credit to Coach
Clay. Obviously, a lot of credit to the players that stepped up and made plays to do so. We talked about the punt and the punt return by Kansas City. Hats off to them. We didn’t do a good enough job on that play. But again, nothing is ever decided on one play.
“So, I have a great deal of confidence in Coach Clay and the job that he did over these last two years, and how we’ve improved, and he’s improved.”
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Offensive tackle Lane Johnson underwent sports hernia surgery Thursday. He tweeted a photo of himself at the hospital with the message: “Appreciate all the love & support this season! Eagles nation & Philly are truly the best. We’ll be back.”