Why the Jalen Hurts News Could Mean the End of an Era in Philadelphia

Their last game together could turn out to be their most absurd. 

Last Sunday, riddled with injuries and traveling to another continent, the Eagles held a 17–16 lead over the favored, one-loss Jaguars with eight seconds remaining. Coach Nick Sirianni decided to kick off despite Jacksonville having no timeouts remaining. Instead of a touchback, which would have left the Jaguars with almost no chance of winning, returner Ameer Abdullah fielded the kick and raced to Philadelphia’s 39-yard line with a tick left, then watched kicker Cam Little deliver a winning field goal from 57 yards out. 

Walking off the field, Sirianni was booed and in shock. Quarterback Jalen Hurts was dismayed. And yet neither of them could have known it might be the last time they walk off the field together. 

On Saturday, news broke that Hurts was out indefinitely, dealing with a blood clot that started in his calf. Placed on injured reserve, Hurts will be inactive for at least the next four games, a potential season-killer for the 2–3 Eagles. In his stead will be Tanner McKee, who has two starts (1–1) and five touchdown passes in his four-year career.

Despite Sirianni and Hurts leading Philadelphia to a pair of Super Bowl appearances, including a resounding 40–22 shallacking of the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, the pair are consistently embattled on local airwaves.

With every loss, there have been murmurs of whether Sirianni should be fired, the result of an off-putting demeanor and the notion many people have that the roster, not Sirianni, is the main reason for Philadelphia's recent success. Since being hired at the start of the 2021 season, Sirianni is 61–29 in the regular season, giving the 45-year-old a .678 winning percentage. Among coaches with at least 50 games to his credit, that ranks ninth all time. Still, critics will point to general manager Howie Roseman stacking the deck, and how in three of his seasons, the Eagles have cratered and failed to win a single playoff game.

Should Philadelphia finish outside the playoffs—something that has never happened in Sirianni’s tenure—there’s going to be an outcry for his dismissal. The Eagles could go that route and look elsewhere, perhaps even bringing back former offensive coordinator Shane Steichen should he be let go as head coach of the Colts after this season. 

Then there’s Hurts, who has long been the subject of debate. Is Hurts a clutch quarterback who has twice matched Patrick Mahomes on the sport’s grandest stage, or is he riding the coattails of an annually excellent defense alongside weapons such as 2,000-yard running back Saquon Barkley, receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, as well as the league’s top offensive line for years?

In six seasons as a starter, Hurts has never thrown for 4,000 yards or 30 touchdowns. He has eclipsed 3,500 yards just twice, and this season, with his supporting cast severely restricted, he’s completing just 57.8% of his attempts alongside a paltry 38.4% success rate, checking in 28th of 30 qualifying quarterbacks.

At 28 years old and signed through 2028, Hurts would normally have security. But this isn’t a normal time for the Eagles. This is also the same general manager who selected Hurts in the 2020 second round despite having Carson Wentz on a $128 million extension the year prior.

Taking a realistic look at their situation, the Eagles could decide the best course of action is trading Hurts. They’d have ample suitors. His base salaries (the number being acquired by a team) the next two years are $1.3 and $1.4 million, respectively. The Eagles would eat the remainder of his guaranteed salary, $22 million, along with void years on the back end of the deal. 

While trading Hurts may seem far-fetched, it also would be an easy way to create a hard reset for a team in dire need of it.

If Hurts misses the balance of 2026 and Philadelphia wins four or five games, it’s going to be in position to draft one of the many hyped quarterbacks coming out for the ‘27 draft. Roseman could use next season to absorb as much dead cap as possible for Hurts, retired right tackle Lane Johnson, center Cam Jurgens, tight end Dallas Goedert, Brown and others. Then he could use his draft capital, including whatever comes in for Hurts, to help rebuild a roster that has holes on both sides of the ball.

Obviously, there’s a world in which the Eagles decide to run everything back. They could view Hurts’s clot as a bizarre twist to a season spiraling due to injuries and give both men another chance to get things right. They retain Sirianni, hold onto Hurts and see if they can reach a third Super Bowl together, something only five coach-quarterback combinations have ever done while winning at least one. Of those combos, everyone involved is either in the Hall of Fame or certainly going to it in the case of Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid.

But in the world of pro sports, recency bias reigns. The Eagles didn’t win a playoff game last year. Festering discontent saw Brown traded to the Patriots. A slow start has folks grumbling. Now Hurts is out, potentially for the remainder of the season. 

Last Sunday, the Eagles walked off the field dazed after a mind-numbing loss to the Jaguars. It turns out that game may be remembered for far more than the result.