Philadelphia, Kansas City built deep teams around star QBs in creative ways.
PHOENIX
For the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, the defining move in an offseason that laid the groundwork for their path to Super Bowl 57 involved a wide receiver trade.
On March 23, a week into the start of free agency, Kansas City traded Tyreek Hill, the most dynamic wide receiver in the NFL, to the Miami Dolphins for a package of five picks in the 2022 and 2023 drafts.
A month later, Philadelphia shook up the first round, sending a first- and third-round pick to the Tennessee Titans for wideout A.J. Brown, who received a four-year, $100 million extension from the Eagles.
Though the Eagles acquired a top-flight talent and the Chiefs jettisoned another, both transactions were made with the short- and long-term goal of continuing to build around their franchise quarterbacks, decisions that have paid off in 2022.
In nine of the past 10 Super Bowls, there has been at least one team with a starting quarterback on a rookie contract. This year is no different, with adjusting to the dimensions of the ballparks, cutoff throws ... the list goes on.
But if he can learn to handle the position with his speed and raw athleticism, it will solve one of the Marlins’ problems over the past few seasons.
Jalen Hurts leading Philadelphia back to the championship game.
The financial advantages of a talented signal-caller on his
“When you’re a rookie manager and you have your best player say that to you, that’s a big deal,” Schumaker said. “It’s kind of like you can take a deep breath and you’re like, ‘OK. This guy’s in it first contract are well-documented. The best players on a team are usually the highest paid, too. But if a franchise can locate and develop a high-end quarterback in his nascent professional seasons, it can allocate salary cap space to building the supporting roster.
The Eagles have done just that in recent years with Hurts, who in