PHILADELPHIA — At an average annual salary of $51 million a year, Jalen Hurts is the first quarterback to make over $50 million in a season and win the Super Bowl. The previous record belonged to Patrick Mahomes, who makes an average of $45 million a season with the Kansas City Chiefs (Mahomes won the two prior Super Bowls before Hurts).
Of the 15 quarterbacks who make $40-plus million a year, only the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl MVP and Mahomes have been to a championship game under their current contracts (the Rams‘ Matthew Stafford makes $40 million a year, but wasn’t making that salary nor under that contract when he won the Super Bowl in the 2021 season).
This was the first year of the five-year, $255 million deal Hurts signed prior to the 2023 season, and the Eagles were able to structure the contract to keep it cap-friendly. Hurts had a cap number of $13,558,000 for the 2024 season, which goes up to $21,869,500 next season. In 2026, the number increases to $31,971,800 before ballooning to $42,132,800 in 2027 — the fourth year of the deal. A cap hit of $47,541,000 goes into effect in 2028 before the 2029 void year has a cap number of $97,553,000. If Hurts doesn’t re-sign, the Eagles just save $97,553,000 in cap space with no dead money.
By then, the Eagles and Hurts will likely restructure the deal to keep the cap number low, the dead money high and the ability to place a talented team around him. Remember, the Eagles had six players with contracts over $20-plus million a year and 12 players who made $10-plus million a year in 2024. Next season, the Eagles will have 11 players under contract making $10-plus million a season, but there will be some maneuvering and cap restructuring by general manager Howie Roseman.
The voided years and the dead money the Eagles push back is how they are able to make this work. The Eagles are third in the NFL in dead money heading into the 2025 season with $50,861,930, but still have the majority of their core players under contract.
Hurts has a cash payout of $42.5 million coming in 2025, yet only takes up 7.8% of the cap number. Credit goes to Roseman and how he’s able to spread the signing bonus, the prorated options and the guaranteed money to keep Hurts’ cap number at a competitive amount.
Not long ago, the best practice in the league was to have a quarterback on a team-friendly or rookie contract so the roster could be loaded up at other positions. The Kansas City Chiefs have finished the deal doing it with Mahomes (even though his average annual salary is $45 million), while the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens have gotten close with Josh Allen ($43 million) and Lamar Jackson ($52 million).
The Eagles won it all with a $50-plus million-a-year quarterback, thanks to being able to be smart with the rising salary cap and being able to still field a strong roster with a highly paid quarterback.
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Author: Jeff Kerr
February 18, 2025 | 4:56 pm
