Jalen Hurts deserved a record contract, but a new high mark isn’t far away

Jalen Hurts’ contract is many stories wrapped up into one. It is a tale of redemption and perseverance, of improvement and belief, of excellence and tenacity.

The Philadelphia Eagles paid him because they want him for his now and for his tomorrow, for his properties as an outstanding franchise figurehead and because they think he’ll get even better.

This was about doing the right thing by a player who came so close to capturing a Super Bowl and looks hungry as hell to finish the job. The money, that incredible amount, is almost irrelevant.

All of the above is true, except for the last bit.

The money is not irrelevant. How could it be, at $255 million overall and an all-time NFL record $51 million annually? It’s also not irrelevant because money is so much more than a simple fiscal mechanism when it comes to the NFL.

[What Jalen Hurts’ contract means for Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson]

It is often said that certain moves — and Monday’s announcement regarding Hurts was one of them — work to “set” the market. When it comes to quarterbacks, that’s false advertising. Such contractual blockbusters don’t “set” anything; they jolt the market so hard the hinges rattle.

It was a jolt when Patrick Mahomes landed what seemed like unearthly money in 2020, but now feels like an absolute bargain at $45 million a year. It was a jolt when Aaron Rodgers got his three-year, $150.8 million contract a year ago and when Deshaun Watson got an unprecedentedly beefy full guarantee of $230 million spread over five years.

These jolts bump things along at a rate that outstrips inflation and convention, and most certainly at paces swifter than what the team owners would prefer to be paying. But because there is such a collection of factors all serving to drive up the numbers, the folks with the money pay it. Because failing to do so means paying more later.

Hurts and the Eagles have set a new contractual high point. And no, in case you were wondering, that doesn’t mean there is going to be a period of calm and reflection where things slow down and normal service is restored.

It means we are off and running on the road to $60 million per year, and, before you know it, far, far beyond.

Teams want to believe their QB is not just on a par with the last guy to get a big deal, but better. That notion is in everyone’s interest, often including the general manager who might have drafted him, traded for him or at least supported him. The owner is emotionally invested too, wanting everyone in the fan base excited about the player under center and believing good times are around the corner, so good that you’d better buy your season ticket now or else.

NFL agents are a hardened bunch who need no reminding that because QB talent is a rare commodity, these negotiations are difficult to lose. The complexity of the position and the hit-or-miss method of trying to find stars in the draft all ratchet up the agent’s advantage even further, and they are good enough to exploit it.

By the time football starts again, we’re on a track to get to $55 million or darn close to it, with Joe Burrow in prime position to be the biggest beneficiary. What could help the Cincinnati Bengals superstar the most is if Justin Herbert gets his deal done next, and if Herbert’s reps are able to convince the Los Angeles Chargers to go higher than the Eagles did for Hurts.

That might be a stretch, but quarterback money conversations always involve a stretch, and Herbert’s people will wax heavy about his unlimited potential, how he looks like someone destined to star for a decade or more, even with no playoff wins compared to Hurts’ Super Bowl run last season.

Should Herbert reach, say, $52 million annually, then surely Burrow’s people wrangle a few million more out of the Bengals. And then … ? 

Well, it won’t be long before Dak Prescott’s deal is up for renewal. After that, the deal that could provide the biggest jolt of all would come around if the Kansas City Chiefs decide to rip up Mahomes’ contract and give him something new, as his remuneration will be in the middle of the road before long.

$50 million? It was like we never knew you.

The escalation used to move much more slowly.

Drew Brees busted the $20 million barrier in 2012 and the ceiling rose rather slowly from there. By 2017, Matthew Stafford was the top earner at $27 million. Then Matt Ryan got to $30 million, at which point everything just went numerically stratospheric. QB pay breezed through the $30 million range, skipped over $40 million in short order, and we’re nearly now at the point of a million dollars per week.

Monetary rules don’t apply in the NFL. Money doesn’t talk here, it screams. For QBs, the numbers don’t crunch, they float in the air, soaring ever higher.

Such is the nature of the modern game, the amounts reaching such levels, so quickly, as to defy logic. And yet, given how the business works, and the importance of the most exalted position, it still somehow makes sense.

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Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. Follow him on Twitter @MRogersFOX and subscribe to the daily newsletter.