Everything Eagles general manager Howie Roseman and head coach Nick Sirianni said Wednesday in their season-ending press conference has to be looked at through the two-word prism of how they presented their answers.
Those two words? “Right now.”
So “right now,” Jalen Hurts got an emphatic endorsement from Roseman and Sirianni when asked Wednesday, in different forms, if Hurts is going to be the Eagles quarterback in 2022.
“Jalen knows where he stands with us,” Sirianni said. “He knows he’s our quarterback … So there are no secrets there. He knows he’s our guy.”
Right now.
5 TAKEAWAYS: Howie Roseman explains why Jalen Hurts is QB in ’22; are they giving up on Jalen Reagor?
PATH FORWARD: 5 steps Eagles must take to become Super Bowl contenders in 2022 – with Jalen Hurts at QB
Roseman was asked what happens if a quarterback such as Seattle’s Russell Wilson or Houston’s Deshaun Watson (pending the nearly two dozen civil suits filed against him for sexual assault, not to mention a possible NFL suspension) becomes available at the right price.
Remember, the Eagles have three first-round draft picks at Nos. 15, 16, and 19.
“Our job is to look at everything, to evaluate every position, every player,” Roseman said. “We do that not only for right now in this moment, but we also do it so we have information when players become available at any position.”
See what Roseman did there?
Sure, Hurts played well enough in 2021 to remain the Eagles’ starter in 2022. As Sirianni said, Hurts got better through the season, and his running ability gave the Eagles a dimension that enabled them to lead the NFL in rushing.
But Roseman left some wiggle room. Just like he did at this time last year when he was asked about the possibility of trading disgruntled quarterback Carson Wentz.
Roseman said then the idea of not having Wentz on the roster was “like the fingers on your hand. You can’t imagine that they’re not a part of you.”
Six weeks later, Wentz wasn’t a part of the Eagles.
All of this applies at wide receiver, too.
Both Roseman and Sirianni admitted that Jalen Reagor, the Eagles’ first-round pick in 2020, didn’t live up to expectations for a second straight season.
We all know the refrain, beginning with the comparisons to Justin Jefferson, who Roseman passed over in the first round of the 2020 draft for Reagor.
Eagles. Phillies. College and high school sports. Subscribe to Delaware Online to get every story.
Jefferson has 3,016 yards receiving, the most in NFL history through two seasons. Reagor has 695.
Reagor had two drops near or in the end zone in the final minute of the 13-7 loss to the Giants on Nov. 28; fumbled away a punt against the Buccaneers on Sunday; and overall didn’t produce.
Sirianni was asked to evaluate his wide receivers, and whether or not the Eagles need to upgrade with a free agent or via trade. The current top three of DeVonta Smith, Quez Watkins and Reagor are all just 23.
Of Smith, who set the Eagles’ rookie receiving record with 916 yards, Sirianni said: “I don’t think that there are a lot of true No. 1 receivers in the NFL, and I think we have one that is going to continue to get better.”
Of Watkins, taken 179 spots after Reagor in the sixth round: “He has big-time speed, and he has a knack to make plays. He can be one of the best No. 2 (receivers) that I’ve been around in the NFL.”
And then Sirianni said this about Reagor: “I like him in that No. 3 spot right now to be able to make plays because he has skill, he has talent.”
Notice the “right now.”
And then Sirianni summed up the position.
“I am very pleased with this group,” Sirianni said. “I know that this is a good group. Are we always going to look to add talent to the group and playmakers to the group? Of course.”
Then came the two words, again.
“I like where we sit right now as the wide receiver group, and I think we can continue to grow at that group because of the talent we have and the guys that we have in that room.”
In other words, where the Eagles sit “right now” with Hurts at quarterback and the wide receivers might not be where the Eagles will sit when the new league year begins in March with free agency and trades. Or at the NFL draft in late April.
If Roseman gets that star receiver, then Watkins goes to No. 3 and Reagor to No. 4 in the pecking order. That is more realistic.
There could be several to choose from. If Roseman wants to trade, there’s Atlanta’s Calvin Ridley, who played for a season with both Hurts and Smith at Alabama. If it’s through free agency, there is the Chargers’ Mike Williams, who was a rookie when Sirianni was his position coach; or Pittsburgh’s Juju Smith-Schuster; or the Colts’ T.Y. Hilton, another player Sirianni coached.
The Eagles could also go after players rehabbing from torn ACLs like the Buccaneers’ Chris Godwin or the Cowboys’ Michael Gallup.
By now, it should be clear that the Eagles are by no means a finished product. The Buccaneers showed how far away they are from becoming an elite team.
“We know that we have to get to a certain level to be a team that has a bye, that has home playoff games and eventually competes to win a world championship,” Roseman said. “We are certainly not satisfied with where we are. We know there is a lot of work to do.”
So listen to everything Roseman and Sirianni said Wednesday about Hurts and Reagor, and even J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, whom Sirianni called “our enforcer” as a blocking wide receiver – or really anybody else.
But just know that is where the Eagles stand “right now.”
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: 2 words that leave questions on futures for Eagles’ Jalen Hurts, Reagor