Cam Jurgens had another stinker this past weekend against the Bears and I was asked why aren’t they benching him? It’s because of his contract. The situation is completely different from what is going on with Landon Dickerson which I talked about a few weeks back. Here’s what’s up…
Jurgens started the year at Center and it didn’t go well. We all chalked this up to the incredibly poor performance from Dickerson though. By Week 2, Dickerson was on IR, Drew Kendall was the new center, and Cam Jurgens was now playing guard. His first starting experience in the NFL was at guard, so there was reason to believe he could handle the assignment. It hasn’t gone well.
While Kendall has excelled, Jurgens has been one of the worst linemen in football since the move. The Eagles have a lot of problems but the offensive line looms large as one of the main reasons the offense has struggled. Jurgens has been at the (slightly off) center of that. While everyone is calling for Willie Lampkin to now replace Jurgens, it is not that simple…yet. It’s just still too early.
Cam’s Contract
In the summer of 2025, the Eagles signed Jurgens to a 4/$68m extension. Because he still had the 4th year of his rookie contract to go, this new deal didn’t go into effect until the 2026 season. It just started. That’s bad. His full 2026 compensation of nearly $13m was guaranteed at signing. The worse news here is that his full 2027 compensation of nearly $16.5m became guaranteed when this season started. The team will not demote that kind of money quickly.
The reason you can’t sit him is because there is just no getting out of the contract any time soon without serious penalty. His current cap hits are very team friendly at $5.5m in 2026, $9.2m in 2027, and $12.3m in 2028. However, a straight cut in the offseason means $31m in dead cap. Of course, the Eagles would not just cut him like that and if they did, they would do it with a post-June 1 designation that would come to a dead cap of $20m in 2027 and $11m in 2028. Things get easier in 2028, but there aren’t any good roster options in the meantime.
What About a Trade?
The NFL trade deadline is on November 10th. You would think a former Pro-Bowler would have some value on the trade block, but I don’t see it. He hasn’t been good since 2024 and publicly said that he had exotic treatments for his injuries in the offseason that do not seem to have worked. Plus, the Eagles know offensive linemen better than most teams. If they are looking to deal their former starter, who the hell thinks he’s going to just rebound with a change of scenery?
Let’s say the Eagles were trying to basically just dump his salary and would take a 7th round comp pick for him, would that make a difference? Still, probably not and the reason is, again, his contract. Since his 2027 compensation of $16.5m is already guaranteed, the receiving team would have to take that on. He also will have $4m of his 2028 salary guaranteed by then. That’s $20m for a guy another team couldn’t use any more! That doesn’t even get to the Eagles part. A deadline deal this year means a dad cap hit of $15.3m in 2027, that’s $6.5m than it is scheduled to be right now. The Eagles need every penny. A trade in the offseason is more possible though as long as it is after June 1 and CJ agrees to push back his bonus date.
Needless to say, he probably isn’t going anywhere for at least two years.
Bench Him?
Is Jurgens hurt, learning a new position/system, or is this just him now? If he’s hurt, that means it is something that he can recover from and can be placed on IR to heal. As weird as it sounds, that is the best-case scenario. Get him off the field and into rehab ASAP. Whenever he is ready to be himself again, the Eagles should at least have a spot for him on the interior next year with Tyler Steen likely leaving in free agency.
If this is not injury related and he is just a step behind due to the position change and new system, then unfortunately, he needs to simply play through things and hopefully he improves. Benching him or a phantom IR trip are not options for him to get better. If Lampkin comes in and dominates, then the Eagles are stuck with a better on field product, but a completely defeated former Super Bowl hero stuck in backup duty this season.
Of course, there is the possibility that past injuries have deteriorated his athleticism to the point that Jurgens is what he is now. If that’s the case, then you simply have to bite the bullet eventually and sit him. This is not going to happen for a few weeks though. They’ll give him every opportunity to prove he still has it.
That contract is not something you just give up on, but the writing is on the wall. They decided to roll with Drew Kendall at center and move Jurgens because they thought Kendall in the middle was a better option RIGHT NOW and they hoped Jurgens would perform better with less responsibility and less liability to his side. It’s not working. A few more weeks of this and the Eagles are going to think Lampkin is their best option for both now and the future. Once that happens, Jurgens is going to be a very highly paid backup this year and fighting with Micah Morris for Tyler Steen‘s old job next year.
The clock is ticking on Cam Jurgens.
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