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The Philadelphia Eagles placed general manager Howie Roseman and head coach Nick Sirianni side-by-side at the dais for an end-of-year press conference on Tuesday. There were a few Super Bowl questions hurled at Sirianni as he chewed his gum ferociously, but the man of the hour was Roseman. He is the one in charge of handing out new contracts, including a possible $265 million investment in Jalen Hurts.
Roseman was relaxed and dodged most questions regarding any contract negotiations. Those talks will be kept internal. No need to drag it out in the press, right? Everyone knows what the projections are for a 24-year-old quarterback with MVP credentials and drool-worthy intangibles. The financial commitment to Hurts will be significant assuming Roseman is convinced he’s the future of the franchise. Well, he is.
“Obviously, we want to keep our best players here for the long term. And he’s certainly one of our best players,” Roseman told reporters. “So that’s something we’ll keep all the contract talks internal but we’d definitely like to keep Jalen Hurts here long term.”
The projections for Hurts start at $35 million per year and jump as high as $50 million. Make no mistake, Roseman knows what kind of math is heading his way at the negotiating table and he’s already crunched the numbers. The two sides will plan to find a mutually beneficial agreement before the new league begins on March 15.
“I think we have a good sense of what we need to do here,” Roseman said. “We have a little bit of time here, too, to kind of figure it out and get away and discuss that. But at the end of the day, the most important thing is keeping our best players here. And Jalen’s certainly one of our best players.”
What About Bringing Back Jason Kelce?
The decision whether to bring back Jason Kelce really isn’t up to Roseman or the Eagles’ front office. The All-Pro center has to first determine if he wants to return for what would be his 13th NFL season. Kelce hasn’t shown any regression, so it’ll be interesting to see if he wants to run it back or ride off into the sunset.
“I’m not saying that yet. We’ll see,” Kelce said after the Super Bowl.
In the meantime, Cam Jurgens is poised to take over as the starting center following a strong training camp and preseason in 2022. The Eagles are set there. In fact, they would save a ton of money if Kelce retired. Jurgens is on his rookie deal which maxes at $6.8 million over four years, compared to the $14 million Kelce earned in 2022.
Philadelphia also has six total draft picks in 2023, plus a slew of compensatory picks coming their way due to outgoing free agents. Roseman has plenty of ammo in the holster no matter what Kelce decides to do. And, as history suggests, his focus will always be on reinforcing the offensive line.
“Yeah, for us offensive line is always going to be a priority. You’ve seen the way we’ve built teams,” Roseman said. “It’s not like we have some secret sauce here. Everyone knows the ingredients. And so, for us we’re going to continue to go through our offseason process. I think for us during the season, we are doing everything for 2023 during the season. So, this isn’t like, hey, we’re a month behind and we’re starting from scratch.”
Eagles Staring at 19 Free Agents, Extra Draft Picks in 2023
The Eagles have 19 players coming off the books this offseason, including 10 starters and seven current or one-time Pro Bowlers. Some noteworthy names to consider: James Bradberry, Brandon Graham, Jason Kelce, Kyzir White, Miles Sanders, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Javon Hargrave, T.J. Edwards, Fletcher Cox, and Boston Scott. Tough decisions all around. Then again, Roseman gets paid handsomely to make the final calls and execute a plan to replenish the well.
“We already have two additional picks from two trades that we made,” Roseman said. “And just by the sheer number of the free agents, we’re going to have comp picks next year. Even if we signed a bunch of guys, we are going to have comp picks next year. So, I think we go into it with that understanding that it’s going to be impossible to keep every single person on this team. But we’re here to compete.”
The two trades Roseman referred to delivered them an extra first-rounder (via New Orleans) and an extra seventh-rounder (via Minnesota) in 2023. The compensatory picks will be announced after free agency is complete.
Roseman added: “I think that a lot of times, I’ve heard this week, you know, we’ll be back. Just because we say it doesn’t mean it. We’ve got to make that happen. I take great pride in trying to do my part.”
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