Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts became the highest-paid player in NFL history on Monday, prompting a classy response from Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes.
Hurts is due to earn $255 million over the next five seasons in Philadelphia, giving him an average annual value of $51 million per season. That ranks ahead of Mahomes, who, on his 10-year, $450 million contract, earns $45 million per year.
Via James Palmer of NFL Network, Mahomes weighed in on Hurts’s new deal and congratulated the Eagles’ star on his big payday.
“Congrats to him,” Mahomes said of Hurts’ new deal, which was negotiated by Klutch Sports’ Nicole Lynn. “He deserves it. He’s someone that plays the position the right way. He goes about his business the right way. That’s why they were in the Super Bowl and he played a great game in the Super Bowl. He proved a lot of people wrong that were still doubting him.”
#chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes on #eagles QB Jalen Hurts' record breaking contract today:
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) April 17, 2023
"Congrats to him. He deserves it. He's someone that plays the position the right way. He goes about his business the right way. That's why they were in the Super Bowl and he played a great…
Hurts’s new deal puts him atop the NFL’s leaderboard in terms of average annual salary, a list in which Mahomes ranks sixth. The Chiefs QB comes in behind the likes of Aaron Rodgers ($50.3 million), Russell Wilson ($48.5 million), Kyler Murray ($46.1 million) and Deshaun Watson ($46 million), in addition to Hurts.
