Eagles GM Howie Roseman backs QB Jalen Hurts after swapping draft picks

After the Philadelphia Eagles were linked with star quarterback Deshaun Watson in rumors before he waived his no-trade clause to join the Cleveland Browns from the Houston Texans in March, both Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and head coach Nick Sirianni offered public votes of confidence for starting signal-caller and 2020 second-round draft pick Jalen Hurts. 

Those comments were, however, made before Philadelphia completed a trade with the New Orleans Saints that involved the Eagles acquiring a 2023 first-round draft choice earlier this month. Some have since assumed the Eagles may be preparing to pursue a different quarterback in next year's draft, but general manager Howie Roseman attempted to pour cold water over that theory while speaking with reporters Wednesday. 

"We're excited about Jalen Hurts, you know," Roseman explained, according to Kevin Patra of the NFL's website. "We're gonna support Jalen and want him to have a great career in Philly. This was about flexibility for our team and about making sure that we had resources to improve our team for not only this year's draft, but next year's draft going forward. We thought it made a lot of sense." 

Roseman added that Hurts is "working his butt off" to improve this offseason.

Hurts produced a mixed bag of results as QB1 in 2021. He completed 61.3% of his passes for 3,144 yards with 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions. The 23-year-old also contributed 784 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.