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Eagles GM reflects on the backlash after drafting Jalen Hurts

Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman. Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Eagles GM reflects on the backlash he faced after drafting Jalen Hurts

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated 6/26/23

Jalen Hurts may have the second-richest quarterback contract in NFL history, but there was a point when Eagles general manager Howie Roseman was under fire for picking the Heisman runner-up in the second round of the 2020 draft.

The selection created a social media firestorm. Roseman and then-head coach Doug Pederson were drug through the mud and met with increasing vitriol over the pick — something Roseman recently confessed had blindsided himself and the rest of the front office.

"I think the magnitude of the reaction was a little surprising to us, and I think that just the conversation around it for weeks and months to come kind of surprised us a little bit," Roseman told The Athletic. "I'm not saying we would not have chosen (Hurts) if we had known that. We were just surprised by how much life it took on."

April 24th, 2020: Eagles draft Jalen Hurts in the second round and everyone wonders what they are doing.

Today: Eagles make Jalen Hurts highest paid player in NFL history (AAV: $51M) and everyone celebrates.

Salute to Howie Roseman.

pic.twitter.com/izwpYPp1Tj
— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) April 17, 2023

The Eagles drafted Hurts one year after signing Carson Wentz to a $128 million contract with more than $100 million guaranteed. The same Wentz that led the Eagles to an NFC East title that very season and took the team to three straight playoff appearances.

Sure, Wentz had his share of injury issues, missing 11 combined games the previous two seasons, including the Eagles 2017 playoff run and Super Bowl LII victory. However, he had a 25-15 record from 2017 to 2019, with 81 touchdowns to just 21 interceptions during that stretch.

But Roseman defended the Hurts pick by citing the fickle nature of the quarterback position and maintaining that a team could never have too many good signal callers.

Andy Reid had his QB in Patrick Mahomes so Eagles GM Howie Roseman sought his mentor’s counsel on the draft class of 2020 and Jalen Hurts was someone Reid endorsed as promising candidate as insurance for Carson Wentz, who had not finished 3 of 4 seasons due to injury.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) February 12, 2023

Fast forward three years, and Wentz has played for three different teams in three years and he started just 12 more games in Philly before being shipped to Indianapolis and then Washington.

Conversely, Hurts is 23-11 as the Eagles starting QB, coming off a breakout 2022 season in which he finished second in MVP voting to Patrick Mahomes, was named a Second Team All-Pro, made his first Pro Bowl and helped lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl appearance. Now, Roseman comes out looking like the smartest man in the room for being 10 steps ahead of everyone else.

“I think you saw (in 2022) the things we saw in him back then,” Roseman added. “He was in the second year in the system and doing everything they asked him to do. He understands it, and this kid is a winner — he’s a flat-out winner. That’s what we saw.”

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