Trade gives Eagles a Plan B if Hurts doesn't work out

The Eagles are rooting for Jalen Hurts. But they’re not doing it blindly. They’re not doing it recklessly.

It’s true that on value alone, it was worth it for Howie Roseman to make the trade he made with the Saints on Monday afternoon. The Eagles essentially traded pick No. 16 for a future 1, a future 2 and a 3 this year; they made out like bandits.

But the Eagles didn’t just make this trade for value alone.

They made it, in large part, because it gives them increased flexibility in the future. Namely, it gives them the ammo to find their franchise quarterback next year if the 2022 season proves Hurts isn’t it.

Don’t get it twisted. The Eagles haven’t made that decision yet. They shouldn’t make it yet because they don’t need to. But judging by the way they showed interest in several veteran quarterbacks this offseason, they’re also not entirely convinced that Hurts is going to be their long-term solution.

Hurts has done enough to earn his job in 2022 but everything after that is uncertain. As owner Jeff Lurie said, “Who knows what the future holds, right?”

That’s kind of the point.

If Hurts shows out this upcoming season and leaves no doubt that he’s the franchise guy, then that’s the best-case scenario. The Eagles would happily sign up for that. That’s what they should be rooting for. Because then they could use both first-round picks next year to continue to bolster the roster around Hurts and help the Eagles get ready for another playoff run with him as their starting quarterback.

But at least now the Eagles have a backup plan.

Adding a first-round pick in 2023 gives the Eagles some extra flexibility next year in the event that Hurts proves that he’s not the guy or that he’s not improving quickly enough in to become the guy. In that case, the Eagles will have two first-round picks that can help them trade for a veteran quarterback or to trade up in the draft and select their next franchise guy.

There are no guarantees, of course, because there is still so much unknown. Last year at this time, who expected Deshaun Watson to be in Cleveland, Russell Wilson to be in Denver, Carson Wentz to be in Washington and Matt Ryan to be in Indianapolis?

And after last year’s draft, it looked like Spencer Rattler was going to be the top quarterback in this year’s class. Oops.

So maybe we don’t exactly know the name of that QB target for the 2023 season yet. But CJ Stroud from Ohio State and Bryce Young from Alabama seem like a good place to start in a 2023 quarterback class that is expected to be much stronger than this year’s crop.

That’s not really the point right now though.

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Because we don’t know what’s behind that second door yet. What we do know is this trade with the Saints basically acquired that second door, the backup plan in case Hurts doesn’t work out.

The Eagles have talked up Hurts all offseason. Roseman, Lurie and Nick Sirianni have all said a different version of the same thing about their 23-year-old quarterback: They don’t question his work ethic even a little bit. And they know that whatever his ceiling is, he’s going to reach it.

But Sirianni also said last week that he didn’t feel the need to reassure Hurts because the Eagles’ actions have done that for him. Well, the Eagles just traded away a pick that could have been used to help Hurts in 2022 and are squirreling it away in case he doesn’t work out.

Ultimately, they’d prefer to never walk through that second door. They’d prefer to watch Hurts flourish as their starter in 2022 and build the team around him. But at least on Monday they wisely bought themselves a backup plan.