Spadaro: 6 reasons why Jalen Hurts' history-making deal is a win-win

The word would be "celebratory" to describe the mood at the NovaCare Complex, and in the world of the Philadelphia Eagles in general, at the news that broke on Monday morning: The Eagles and quarterback Jalen Hurts agreed to terms on a five-year contract extension, a history-making deal, that keeps Hurts in Philadelphia through the 2028 season.

To know that you have your superstar quarterback, your franchise guy, happy and under contract in a market that is only going to escalate is just a terrific feeling, and it means so much to Hurts and to the Eagles for a variety of reasons, some of which might not be so obvious to those on the outside looking in.

1. No more questions about "When is Jalen Hurts going to get his deal done?"

For months since the 2022 season ended in Super Bowl LVII, that's been the topic of conversation. And while Hurts, Executive Vice President/General Manager Howie Roseman, Head Coach Nick Sirianni, and Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie answered every one of the questions positively and patiently, the story just wouldn't go away and neither would the questions.

Now, there are no more of those questions and that matters. Players are reporting to the NovaCare Complex next week for the team's offseason conditioning program and they won't have to answer the "When is Jalen Hurts ...?" questions. Everyone can move forward.

For Hurts, wow, what a great time to look ahead. He isn't the kind of guy to allow the contract issue to become a huge distraction, but you can only imagine, right? It is an enormous deal, a life-changing situation for a young man just entering the prime of his NFL career. Hurts allowed his management team to handle all of the contract conversations, but he was in the know all along.

Now, Hurts can move ahead with football, and football only, on his mind. That is what he prefers, without a doubt. The Eagles have taken care of business – a very important point of business – and can focus on the NFL Draft and roster building.

2. The Eagles now know exactly how their salary cap and financial resources line up

You have seen how the offseason has been: The Eagles knew they were in line for a new Hurts contract and planned accordingly. With that, they had limitations in free agency that became apparent for all to see and approached that part of the roster-building process with great discipline and specific targeting. While it was impressive to keep center Jason Kelce and cornerbacks Darius Slay and James Bradberry at top-of-the-market deals, the Eagles had to be extremely specific with their spending limits elsewhere.

Now they know exactly where they stand with respect to the salary cap in terms of available dollars to spend and future budgets. The Eagles kickstarted the market for signing quarterbacks to new deals in this offseason, and not far behind the expectation is that Cincinnati will sign Joe Burrow and Los Angeles will sign Justin Herbert, etc. Baltimore wants to sign its quarterback, Lamar Jackson. Let's see how the market changes with Hurts' deal coming first.

Building a roster is all about doing what is right for the present and also being responsible and allowing for flexibility in the future. The Eagles have done that by getting the Hurts deal done and now they know what they are working with in terms of dollars and financial sense moving forward.