Following a season in which the team finished 9-8 and was blasted out of the wild-card round by the Buccaneers, there was speculation that the Eagles could look to upgrade at quarterback this offseason. On Wednesday, the team’s leadership appeared to put those notions to bed.
General manager Howie Roseman and head coach Nick Sirianni both expressed confidence in quarterback Jalen Hurts's development, and planned to proceed with him as Philadelphia’s starting quarterback for 2022.
"There’s no doubt about it,” Roseman said regarding Hurts's starting status, per Philly Influencer. “I think when you talk about all the things we talked about at the end of the season, nothing has changed. I think what really has changed for us is the opportunity to add...We have to continue to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to maximize our players’ ability to be successful and, certainly, that starts at the quarterback position with Jalen.”
Hurts started 15 games during the regular season, completing 61.3% of his pass attempts for 3,144 yards, 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also added 784 yards and 10 scores on the ground, though struggled greatly in the wild-card round game against Tampa Bay, failing to get the Eagles on the scoreboard through their first 10 drives.
"You start watching each individual cut-up of all your different concepts and different things that you did. And as you watch more and more and as you think about it more and more, you’re just pleased with the progression that Jalen has made," Sirianni said. "I think that’s common of who Jalen Hurts is as a player and as a quarterback, that he just continues to get better...We just know that progression is going to continue."
In addition to trade and free agency options, the Eagles have a unique ability to add high-impact players through the draft. They have three first-round picks this year (Nos. 15, 16 and 19), though Sirianni seemed adamant that Hurts could guide Philadelphia to new heights, touting his toughness, football IQ, high character and competitiveness.
“Jalen Hurts has all those things and he’s only going to continue to get better...you can see the progression of him getting better throughout the year in different things," Siriannis said. "He led us to the playoffs, and obviously, we want to go further than that and we’re really confident that Jalen is a guy that can help us do that.”
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