Three questions as new league year kicks off
The NFL’s new league year officially kicked off at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
Here are three questions surrounding the Eagles.
When will they extend Jalen Hurts, and what will the numbers look like?
The 24-year-old Hurts checked multiple boxes and answered lingering questions with his stellar performance throughout the 2022 season. He was named an NFL MVP finalist after totaling 5,183 combined yards with 43 touchdowns and just nine turnovers (six interceptions, three fumbles lost).
It could be argued that he was the better quarterback in Super Bowl LVII — just ask the championship game’s MVP himself.
“If there was any doubters left, there shouldn’t be now,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said of Hurts. “The way he stepped up on this stage and ran, threw the ball — whatever it took for his team to win — I mean that was a special performance.
“I don’t want it to get lost in the loss that they had. … It was a special performance by him, man. You make sure you appreciate that when you look back on this game.”
Throughout the offseason general manager Howie Roseman has indicated the Eagles intend to sign Hurts to a long-term deal. It’s been an ongoing conversation between both parties. Roseman and his cap specialists also are navigating their operations around a whopping $55 million in projected dead money, according to Spotrac, most in the NFL.
There are external factors too. Aside from Hurts, three other franchise quarterbacks are due for market-setting deals, including Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert and Lamar Jackson.
How will coaching changes affect Nick Sirianni?
For the first time as an NFL head coach Sirianni is dealing with a large amount of turnover to his staff. He lost his offensive and defensive coordinators, Shane Steichen and Jonathan Gannon, to head coaching gigs with the Colts and Cardinals, respectively.
Gannon also took former linebackers coach Nick Rallis with him to Arizona, while defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson left the team to join the Baltimore Ravens after he was passed up for defensive coordinator. That job went to Sean Desai, who most recently worked with the Seahawks after he served as Bears defensive coordinator in 2021.
There is some expected continuity with quarterbacks coach and longtime Hurts mentor Brian Johnson being promoted to coordinator. The offense is still largely Sirianni’s product, but Johnson is now entrusted with dialing up the play calls on game day. The offense has key weapons under contract for multiple years, including Hurts, wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and tight end Dallas Goedert. In the backfield Kenneth Gainwell is back for Year 3, while the team re-signed Boston Scott and also added running back Rashaad Penny in free agency.
Given the proven playmaking ability on offense, a majority of questions hover over the defense, which finished No. 2 in NFL
rankings.
Aside from the coaching departures, the Eagles also have lost four starters (defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, linebackers Kyzir White and T.J. Edwards, safety Marcus Epps) over the past three days. They’ve retained a few key pieces in veterans Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham and James Bradberry, but the personnel under Desai is going to look vastly different from the roster that took the field in the Super Bowl.
Can the Eagles still re-sign C.J. Gardner-Johnson?
The Eagles could have flexibility with their offseason spending and it raises the possibility for a reunion with Gardner-Johnson. The former cornerback-turned-safety finished tied for most interceptions in the
NFL (six) despite missing five games late in the season due to a lacerated kidney injury.
The free-agent market for safeties has been quite interesting. Heading into free agency, Gardner-Johnson was widely considered a top-three safety alongside Jessie Bates III and Jordan Poyer. Bates, 26, left the Bengals and set the market with him signing a four-year deal worth $64.02 million with the Falcons. Poyer, 32 in April, was vocal about wanting to play for another team, particularly in a warmer climate with an emphasis on potentially joining the Miami Dolphins, but he ultimately re-signed a two-year deal with the Bills on Wednesday.
That leaves Gardner-Johnson, 25, as the top remaining safety in free agency. Retaining Gardner-Johnson would provide the Eagles with some of the playmaking ability they enjoyed last season while finishing as the NFL’s top pass defense.