Philly Front Office

There is a section of the fan base that wants to run Jalen Hurts out of town, ranting and raving via text message on a random weekday about all of his shortcomings despite 9 wins in a row. Earlier in the week I talked about how this is impossible, well now I want you to see where the Eagles stand league wide in terms of the QB position. Let’s dump these teams into categories to see who even has a chance both in the short and long term.

Good Shape Now and Later: Bills, Chiefs, Ravens, Lions

These 4 teams all have QBs who are under contract for a few years, are adequately paid, and leading competitive teams. All 4 could legitimately win a Super Bowl and/or have recently been an MVP candidate. Lamar Jackson is getting a lot of benefit of the doubt to avoid being in the Not Good Enough Category, but 2 MVPS is 2 MVPS.

QB Good, but Unhappy: Bengals

A category by himself. Joe Burrow might be the best QB in the league, but the people running the Bengals do not know what they are doing. Burrow is doing an incredible job of making them look competent. I know they were in the big game recently, but they aren’t even close right now. They are about to pay Jamar Chase…or not? Either way, they are going to make a bad move. They are going to look like a better version of the Dallas Cowboys but without the benefit of decent drafting.

Not Good Enough to Win a Super Bowl: Cardinals, Packers, Chargers, Bucs, Falcons, Dolphins, Saints, Cowboys, Jaguars

This is the most subjective category, but each team is here because they have the same thing in common. All have invested big money in QBs who have never won a big game. These teams are locked in based on hope and circumstance rather than real performance. For anyone arguing for Justin Herbert, he made the playoffs once and lost to Trevor Lawrence blowing a 27 point lead. Speaking of which, that Trevor Lawrence hasn’t been seen since. The jury is still out on Jordan Love, but he is trending toward Dak Prescott but admittedly has a very limited sample size.

Young Honeymooners: Texans, Broncos, Football Team, Bears, Patriots, Panthers, Colts

I don’t want to judge anyone too soon and before a team has really committed anything other than draft equity. Carolina would have been firmly in the WTF category until a reinvigorated Bryce Young started showing promise. CJ Stroud could vault into the top category once he gets paid after next season. I wanted to put Anthony Richardson into other, worse categories but he is here because I don’t know what to make of him. If he takes a developmental leap and stops getting hurt, he could be very good…or he doesn’t and gets put firmly into the Not Good Enough category.

Decision Time: Vikings, Seahawks, 49ers, Rams, Steelers

This is the fun section. These teams come in two sub-categories, young guys eligible for an extension this off season and old guys you might want to consider putting out to pasture before paying them again.

• Sam Darnold is having a pretty great year, but that leaves the Vikings with problems. Is it the system or has Darnold finally realized his potential? If you keep him, what do you do with recently drafted JJ McCarthy? Is Darnold worth the Daniel Jones level contract he is probably going to ask for? Nothing is ever easy for them.
• Geno Smith will turn 35 next season in the final year of his contract. Are the Seahawks going to draft his replacement this off season? Are they going to extend him? They might make the playoffs this year, but the ceiling on this unit seems pretty low. Rebuilding and selling off parts might be the best option but I can’t see that happening especially if they win the division.
• Really very sad to see this team fall apart the way they have. I hope my keyboard isn’t ruined from all the tears. Brock Purdy is up for an extension this off season. Are they going to pay him the going rate for a franchise QB, say 5 years at $50m-$60m per year? He still won’t really affect their cap until the following season, but the roster stacking window provided by their QB rookie contract will be closing. Paying Purdy will mean Deebo Samuel and others will probably be gone. Trent Williams is going to demand more money again too. Maybe they think offensive guru Shanahan can just make QBs out of nothing? It is possible
• Matt Stafford just won a Super Bowl and still looks okay throwing to two of the best receivers in football. He will be 37 next season and have a cap hit of $50m. The next season he can be cut to save around $30m assuming they don’t restructure him this offseason. They can’t extend them, can they? They will have to pay him Kirk Cousins money. They might find themselves in a transition year like the Seahawks.
• The Steelers got very lucky that Russell Wilson wasn’t cooked…but he also isn’t going to win them the Super Bowl. He is doing enough to win, but isn’t exactly winning games for them (I really should have saved this until after this Sunday against the Eagles). The Steelers are not attached to him and he is 36 years old. Maybe they draft a replacement? Maybe they run it back with him? Maybe they are the ones who pay Darnold? No idea.

WTF: Giants, Raiders, Titans, Jets, Browns

These teams have no hope with who they have on the roster and need to do something. The Jets, Giants, and Browns will all be paying QBs next year who either will not or should not be on their roster. Maybe this ranking isn’t fair to Will Levis, but if Tennessee can get in position to draft a QB, they are going to do it (unlike the Colts). All 5 of these teams need a reset desperately.

Eagles

So where do you think we are Eagles fans? Would you trade places with anyone in the Not Good Enough section, despite those guys never coming close to winning anything? Do you really think Jalen Hurts isn’t good enough to win the Super Bowl despite what he did 2 years ago? Yes, he has to play better. We know that, he knows that, and the team knows that. One thing is for sure, even if he had a more tradeable contract, you are not getting one of those top 5 guys. Maybe Jalen is his own category?