How Eagles built around rookie QB deal, Chiefs navigated megadeal to reach the Super Bowl

For the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, the defining move in an offseason that laid the groundwork for their path to Super Bowl 57 involved a wide receiver trade.

On March 23, a week into the start of free agency, Kansas City traded Tyreek Hill, the most dynamic wide receiver in the NFL, to the Miami Dolphins for a package of five draft picks in the 2022 and 2023 drafts.

A month later, Philadelphia shook up the first round, sending a first- and third-round pick to the Tennessee Titans for wideout A.J. Brown, who received a four-year, $100 million extension from the Eagles.

Though the Eagles acquired a top-flight talent and the Chiefs jettisoned another, both transactions were made with the short- and long-term goal of continuing to build around their franchise quarterbacks, decisions that have paid off in 2022.

In nine of the past 10 Super Bowls, there has been at least one team with a starting quarterback on a rookie contract. This year is no different, with Jalen Hurts leading Philadelphia back to the championship game.

The financial advantages of a talented signal-caller on his first contract are well-documented. The best players on a team are usually the highest-paid, too. But if a franchise can locate and develop a high-end quarterback in his nascent professional seasons, it can allocate salary cap space to building the supporting roster.

The Eagles have done just that in recent years with Hurts, who in his third season and second as the full-time starter has a cap hit of $4.8 million, the 15th-largest on the team.

In addition to trading for Brown in the offseason, Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman has made multiple shrewd moves. Roseman, who also built the Eagles team that defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 52 five years ago, signed defensive end Hassan Reddick to a three-year, $45 million deal in the 2021 offseason. Reddick, 28, tied for second in the NFL this season with 16 sacks.

And after James Bradberry was cut from the New York Giants, the Eagles signed the veteran corner to a one-year, $7 million deal before the season started, pairing him with Darius Slay on the outside to form one of the best tandems in the league.

The core of the Eagles still lies in homegrown talents, such as Hurts and DeVonta Smith, as well as veterans such as Lane Johnson and Brandon Graham. But the flexibility afforded by Hurts’ contract has allowed Philadelphia to flesh out a deep and talented team.

A few years ago, the Chiefs sat in the Eagles’ position, reaping the benefit of a preternatural talent on a minuscule contract. After leading Kansas City to a victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 54, Mahomes signed a 10-year, $450 million extension in June 2020. It was a deal that, while at the time the largest in league history, was structured to give the Chiefs leeway to continue adding talent to the roster.

Over the next two seasons, Mahomes had cap hits of less than $13 million combined. But in 2022, Mahomes’ cap hit ballooned to nearly $36 million, the second-largest in the NFL. And with other large contracts already on the books, the Chiefs had limited room to work with.

Last offseason, the Chiefs were deep in contract talks with Hill, who sought to be the highest-paid player at his position. Ultimately, Kansas City, led by general manager Brett Veach, made the tough decision to trade Hill to Miami, which gave him the contract he desired. While the draft picks sent back in exchange were desired, so was the cap space and ability to sign players at other positions of need.

The risk was one the Chiefs were able to take because of the supreme talent of Mahomes, who won his second Most Valuable Player award this season. Nonetheless, Kansas City found an instant contributor in the draft with first-round cornerback Trent McDuffie (11 starts) and replaced Hill’s production with a group of veteran receivers, including JuJu Smith-Schuster (933 receiving yards) and Marques Valdes-Scantling (687 yards).

“When we looked at this offseason, I think on our agenda was to add talent to the defensive side, whether it be defensive line or it be in the secondary, and take care of Tyreek,” Veach said during a pre-draft news conference last April. “It became obvious as the free agency started that it was going to be tough to do both. You’re faced with a decision: Do you dip into the older, veteran pass-rush market? If you do that, how are you going to pay Tyreek? And then how does Tyreek feel about that?

“If you do the Tyreek [deal], then you’re limited in regard to your resources being able to be spent on defense, plus the future. With that type of deal, [the future] would be impacted to a great deal. So when we took a step back and we figured, ‘How are we going to get better on both sides?’ That’s why we decided it was best for us and best for Tyreek in that contract. It was kind of a win-win in that situation.”

In the years to come, the Eagles may look more like the Chiefs. Hurts is one of many young quarterbacks eligible for a contract extension in the offseason and new deals are expected to exceed $50 million in annual salary.

But Roseman’s adroit decisions have the Eagles in a manageable cap situation for 2023 and beyond, putting Philadelphia in a position to contend for the foreseeable future behind its breakout star.

“I’m proud of Howie Roseman for what he’s done,” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who led the Eagles for 14 seasons, three of which were alongside Roseman. “He’s done a great job of retooling that team a couple different times. That’s not an easy thing to do. He probably doesn’t get enough credit for that.”

Kickoff at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. eastern time.