In March 2021, the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams pulled off one of the biggest trades in NFL history, with the Rams sending quarterback Jared Goff along with their 2022 and 2023 first round picks and their 2021 second round pick to the Lions in exchange for quarterback Matthew Stafford.
It changed the trajectory of both players’ careers. Stafford won the Super Bowl in his first season and Goff created what turned out to be a career-defining legacy in Detroit by turning his team from one of the NFL’s worst into one of its best.
It might end up also being the blueprint for what happens with Philadelphia Eagles quarterback and reigning Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts if he and his team continue their current downward spiral.
Hurts Hasn’t Seemed Like Competent NFL QB
The defending Super Bowl champions have lost 3 consecutive teams to drop to 8-5 overall and at the center of it all has been the terrible play of Hurts, who had career highs of 5 turnovers and 4 interceptions with zero touchdowns in an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 14.
Yahoo Sports’ Inside Coverage podcast featuring Andrew Siciliano, Charles Robinson and Frank Schwab proposed an offseason trade which would sent Hurts to the New Orleans Saints, where he would be reunited with former Eagles offensive coordinator and current Saints head coach Kellen Moore.
In this scenario, it’s probably just a first round pick and a second round pick in exchange for Hurts, who signed a 5-year, $255 million contract extension before the 2023 season.
From Inside Coverage: “Someone always wants a quarterback. Someone always needs a quarterback. The New Orleans Saints, in this case. I do think it is time. Listen, (Hurts) won a Super Bowl last year. He’s not a bum. He’s a good player. But clearly, he’s hit a wall. (Hurts) has got a month to turn it around. He does. But I do think you need to start asking the question and looking at the contract and asking … is there an exit strategy here? And who would want him next year?”
Hurts: Cool When Winning, Weird When Losing
To Hurts’ credit, his behavior and demeanor has remained unchanged when he’s winning the Super Bowl or when he’s losing and it seems like the entire world has turned on him.
Maybe that’s part of the problem. Football is an emotional game. Hurts shows very little to no emotion during games, win or lose, and seems to be a strange fountain of cliche’d quotes about sports and life.
“When Jalen’s kicking ass and doing his Yoda thing, it’s really funny and cool,” The Ringer’s Chris Ryan said on The Ringer Fantasy Football Show on December 10. “When he’s not, it’s maddening … like you want to see him giving people high fives, firing people up on the sideline. Like when he threw that fourth interception and the camera cuts to him and he’s just, like, staring into space. Pretend like you’re looking at a tablet or something like ‘Oh, I missed that’ just to be performative … (the Eagles) are just really hard to watch right now.”
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