Has Eagles proprietor Jeffrey Lurie gone too far with quarterback directives? – Philadelphia Eagles Weblog

PHILADELPHIA – For the second year running, Jeffrey Lurie, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, points the franchise to quarterback Jalen Hurts – raising questions and concerns.

According to sources, Lurie was instrumental in choosing Hurts in last April’s draft. He wasn’t alone on an island – former coach Doug Pederson was looking for a young QB to develop, and General Manager Howie Roseman is said to be on board – but Lurie wanted Hurts. And when bosses want something, they usually get it.

Philadelphia took advantage of its second-round election (# 53 overall) for the Oklahoma product, despite having donated four years and $ 128 million in funding to quarterback Carson Wentz. Hurts showed promise in four starts as a rookie, but using a high range of hurts and later starting in favor of the struggling Wentz played an important role in worsening the relationship between Wentz and the organization.

Last month, the Eagles agreed to hand out Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts for a pair of draft picks. When trading becomes official on March 17, Philadelphia will record the biggest dead-cap hit in league history at $ 33.8 million.

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Hurts is the only quarterback to come from last season’s roster. Even if the NFL Free Agency and the 2021 NFL draft are pending, Lurie Hurts will hand over the keys to the 2021 campaign. He’s instructed the team to prioritize Hurts success this season rather than a real quarterback. Creating competition, sources shared ESPN’s Chris Mortensen – another sign of how convenient the Eagles owner has become.

Lurie’s involvement in staff and football operations increased after the era of coach Chip Kelly (2013-15), when Lurie felt at times alienated from his own club and reportedly told confidants before firing Kelly that he wanted to “take the team back” .

There was evidence that he did when Lurie charged with re-signing Sam Bradford in the 2016 off-season and went to the Senior Bowl in January to evaluate Wentz and the 2016 drafting class. During Pederson’s tenure, he held weekly meetings with Pederson and Roseman during the season to delve into football issues. He prevented then Quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo from being interviewed for the 2017 job as offensive coordinator with the New York Jets and prevented Pederson from honoring the request, as his mentor, former Eagles coach Andy Reid usually did .

And Lurie fired Pederson that off-season when the coach failed to provide a vision for the future the owner could embrace, even as other brokers tried to de-escalate the situation to keep the Super Bowl winning coach in the fold.

Lurie’s influence is felt far and wide, from the organisation’s strong propensity for analytics to the deliberations of the coaching staff. Of particular interest, however, is the quarterback position. Lurie knows the importance of QBs to the overall success of a franchise and has become a student in that position. He is involved in the process when he acquires one. His philosophy of investing heavily in quarterbacks has become a major organizational tenet, and has resulted in great success stories like the Nick Foles-led Super Bowl run and cautionary stories of how they played out with Hurts and an angry Wentz.

Owner Jeffrey Lurie’s Eagles will join the quarterback position in the vacant agency and / or draft, but it looks like Jalen Hurts is entering the 2021 season as a suspected starter. Kyle Terada / USA Today Sport

Perhaps Lurie’s policy on hurts is with a view to the Eagles’ recent history. The 2020 season has shown what kind of disaster can occur if QB1 does not feel fully supported. The instruction of its employees not to have a legitimate competition for hurts can be seen in part as a reaction to this.

It’s fair to wonder if it’s an overreaction. After all, pain is far less proven than Wentz last season. He showed strong lead at an awkward spot and gave the offense a jolt when added to the line-up, but he cooled the track down and finished it with a 52% completion rate and six touchdowns on four interceptions while playing 354 yards and three points raced.

Four games is too small a sample size to determine if he can be a quality starter with the pros.

The Eagles are limited in the type of veterans they can bring in based on their salary cap, but they hold # 6 in the upcoming draft and there are many interesting quarterback prospects in this class including Zach Wilson, Justin Fields, Trey Lance, and Mac Jones. The Eagles don’t make the top 10 often, which makes this a potentially unique opportunity for them.

If a first-round quarterback falls into the competition category, Lurie’s decision to abstain before coach Nick Sirianni and his staff have had the opportunity to meet and fully evaluate prospects. The Eagles ‘staff typically gather in April, once all Pro days are over, to take into account the coaches’ assessments as the team forms its design board.

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In other words, all of the relevant voices were not fully heard.

It would be naive to believe that owners across the league are not involved in big hiring decisions, especially when it comes to the quarterback position. The question is: where is the line?

There were mixed opinions about hurts in the Eagles building that led to last year’s design. He wasn’t the tallest player on Philadelphia’s board when he was selected. Was it wise for Lurie & Co. to be aggressive and take the QB they wanted a little earlier so they wouldn’t miss it, as they did by waiting too long for Russell Wilson in 2012? Or has the owner’s excitement about the player got things off course?

Should an owner be involved in the staff review or does this skew the process and hurt the experts hired to do the job? What message will be sent to the locker room about the new coach when the quarterback decision is made over his head?

Those are the questions that revolve around the Eagles as they take on the pieces from a disastrous 4-11-1 season that included a divorce from their one-time franchise quarterback.

In the meantime, an answer has emerged: Yes, Lurie is heavily involved, and increasingly for better or for worse.