Perception quickly becomes reality. That's especially when true when it comes to the Eagles quarterback situation.
When it came to Carson Wentz, the perception of a mega contract and face-of-the-franchise talk led to us believing a reality in which the organization was tied to the one-time star for years and years. That turned out to be nonsense.
Now we're entering a new arc, with a new young quarterback. Except this time the perception is different.
But I'm not buying it.
Here's what's become a very common thought about the Eagles and Jalen Hurts as we move closer to the 2021 NFL Draft: The team likes him, but doesn't love him. They aren't sold. He was drafted to be a cheap backup, and the thought of him as a starter in 2021 never entered the Eagles thinking. Having up to three first-round picks in the 2022 NFL Draft will allow Howie Roseman to hedge by trading up for Hurts' replacement or go after a superstar like Russell Wilson or Deshaun Watson. Hurts isn't the guy, he's just the guy for now.
Now, some of that might be rooted in reality. I have no doubt the Eagles would be interested in going from good to great at the most important position in sports if a special opportunity presented itself. But before reading another rumor or the tea leaves on Hurts' future here, just consider the following actions this franchise has taken over the last year:
-Drafted Hurts in the second round of the 2020 draft.
-Gave Hurts snaps during regular season games, shifting Wentz to some sort of Mickey Mouse wide receiver position.
-Increased Hurts' practice time with the first team.
-Benched Wentz for Hurts during the Green Bay game.
-Handed Hurts the job for the final four games (well, until the Washington tank) of the season.
-Traded Wentz away despite taking on a record dead cap hit.
-Signed a backup quarterback (Joe Flacco) that isn't legitimate competition to win the starting job in training camp.
-Traded down, not up, from No. 6 in a draft that could be historic for early quarterback selections.
-Accumulated picks for a draft that's not expected to be as rich in star quarterback prospects.
No, the Eagles haven't committed to Hurts as their starter. Yes, rumors are out there about Watson and Wilson. No, the red carpet hasn't been rolled out for Hurts like was for, say, Wentz five years ago.
But those actions speak loudly, and louder than rumors could. When the Eagles drafted Hurts, Howie Roseman relayed the memory of missing out on Wilson in 2012. It's pretty clear that Roseman, Jeff Lurie and whoever else was involved in the drafting of Hurts saw something they believed in. Hurts' leadership and work ethic gave the franchise enough confidence to play him and risk destroying the Wentz relationship for good. His play was enough to convince them to pass on quarterback at the top of this draft class.
"Eagles" and "dysfunctional" have been used together in far too many sentences this offseason, and Hurts' status (and entire plan behind his presence on this roster) is a big part of that. The Eagles would be wrong to be 100 percent sure that he's the future in Philadelphia. But my guess is that the belief in Hurts at the NovaCare Complex if far stronger than the fan base believes right now.
If it wasn't, moving away from this quarterback class would be foolish. The minute the Eagles traded down, my first thought was about how easily Roseman could have made the move the 49ers did to get to No. 3. All it would have taken was the (likely) No. 1 acquired for Wentz and next year's Eagles No. 1. It would have been palatable if the Eagles didn't have belief in Hurts and wanted to move forward with a blue-chip prospect like Justin Fields or Trey Lance. But it didn't happen, and the opposite did. That should have screamed something to us.
One year from now, the Eagles could be spending a ton of cap room and/or draft picks to find their next quarterback. Unless, of course, they already found him and have a good sense of belief in that reality. That could change the perception of a franchise that's a year away from having a good, cheap quarterback and a ton of assets to build a winning team around him.
