High Bar Set for Any Future Justin Fields Deal
Remember all of those years ahead of completely untapped salary cap space the Bears have?
It's apparently going to be needed, if quarterback Justin Fields delivers this season.
If the latest quarterback to get a contract extension is any example, the Bears can expect to pay more than a hefty price for Fields when his contract is extended based on the deal Jalen Hurts agreed to Monday with the Philadelphia Eagles. That is, again, if Fields delivers this year.
Hurts came through in his third year in a big way and led the Eagles to the NFC championship before they lost to Kansas City in the Super Bowl. He still had two years on his rookie deal left but the Eagles went right to work and got Hurts a contract extension through 2028 at $255 million over five years with what numerous reports have said is $179 million guaranteed.
The deal made Hurts the highest-paid player in NFL history.
Overthecap.com projects the Bears will have $104.2 million in cap space in 2024 (3rd most), $178.9 million in 2025 (4th most) and $246.3 million in 2026 (8th most). Cap space will vanish quickly as players in need of extensions this year sign deals with bonuses prorated over five years in the future.
Add in a $50 million-a-year deal for a quarterback and it gets tougher, even when the inevitable increase in cap space occurs annually because it's based on league revenues.
Hurts' deal is an example of how teams can get a handle on spending. By signing him now, instead of just picking up his contract extension, they get ahead of the curve so to speak. Contracts for quarterbacks increase every year and in another year it's realistic to think they would have had to pay another $10 million a year.
With Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert still to get new deals before quarterbacks like Fields and Trevor Lawrence are out of their rookie contracts, it's sure to raise the bar even more than where Hurts is.
Spotrac.com projects market values in advance and had projected Hurts at $44.2 million a year, which was quite a bit less than he received. They had Herbert at $46.5 million and Burrow at $48.1 million. Considering how much more Hurts received than was projected, and then applying this type of increase to two players rated as better than he is as a passer and the ceiling for QBs is going to shoot skyward before Fields is up.
The Bears might be wise to follow the same sort of action the Eagles did and head off the rising cost at the pass.
Then again, if Fields doesn't deliver in a way like Hurts, it might not be a case of extending him. Or if it is, maybe he wouldn't get the kind of increase Hurts had.
Through two seasons, Hurts had 59% completions, 4,205 yards, 22 TDs, 13 interceptions and an 84.7 passer rating. All those statistics except the completion percentage and TD passes are better than Fields' numbers through two seasons. Fields had two more TD passes and eight more attempts.
The numbers are close enough to expect a deal like that for Fields if he can also make a step up in productivity like Hurts had in Year 3. The problem is making that step up because Fields doesn't have the kind of team Hurts had with the Eagles.
Hurts had a 101.5 passer rating, 66.5% completions (306 of 460), 3,701 yards and 22 TDs to just six interceptions.
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