The Eagles looked listless against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4 of the 2025 season. Maybe it was the sweltering heat in the Raymond James Stadium, but fans hoped Philadelphia would fight through. They did exactly that. While they won 31-25, the blatant holes in their offense were visible. The offensive line, under Kevin Patullo, was the best in the Red Zone, but anywhere else on the field, they were far from perfect. Then, there was quarterback Jalen Hurts.

He went 15-of-24 through the air for 130 yards and two touchdowns, but every completion came before halftime. In the second half, he didn’t connect on any of his eight attempts, and the Eagles‘ offense stalled. Perhaps that stagnancy was something the Buccaneers were expecting all along. At least, that’s what their linebacker Lavonte David insinuated.

“Jalen Hurts was never a guy we were worried about,” said David on The Arena: Gridiron. “Our game plan, because they had a great offensive line, was to always stop the run. That may open up the passing game, but he was never asked to do so much in the passing game. You know he had A.J. Brown, you got Devonta Smith, and you got Dallas Goedert.”

The quarterback couldn’t find a completion after halftime, and even efforts to involve Brown went nowhere. The pressure mounted. Hurts took two sacks in the second half, with offensive tackle Lane Johnson sidelined by a shoulder injury. The Philadelphia Eagles’ offense never found its flow, but still managed to win. When it was over, there wasn’t much clarity about what went wrong during the post-game conference.

“We obviously didn’t play good there [second half],” Eagles’ head coach Nick Sirianni said later. “Running game, passing game, it was everything. You can’t single out one.”

Then, there was Hurts, who said it was the execution they failed at.

The Eagles play in the NFC East, alongside the New York Giants, Washington Commanders, and Dallas Cowboys. On the other hand, the Buccaneers are in the NFC South with the Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and Atlanta Falcons. The NFC rivals don’t square off twice a year routinely, though they have crossed paths at least once a year in the past two seasons.

After Hurts was picked by the Birds in the 2020 NFL Draft, the franchise faced the Bucs six times, and their previous record indicates that Lavonte David could indeed be right. With the star quarterback in charge, the Eagles were able to secure victory in two of the six games they played against Tampa Bay.

The 27-year-old quarterback has a 59.5 passing completion percentage against the Red and Black, which is less than his career average of 64.8. All that said, the Eagles’ signal-caller has bigger things to worry about right now.

The 2026 season could define Jalen Hurts’ future in Philadelphia

Jalen Hurts led the Philadelphia Eagles to Super Bowl glory in the 2024 season when he won the Super Bowl MVP honor. However, the team had miserably failed to defend the title last season, getting eliminated after the Wild Card Round against the San Francisco 49ers. As a result of last season’s struggles, the relationship between the Eagles’ management and the quarterback has reportedly been strained.

“The pass game wasn’t always properly tied to the run, and there’s a level of predictability that allows opposing defenses to get a bead on what’s coming,” wrote ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler last week, referring to reports coming from the internal sources of the Eagles. “Though there is plenty of blame to spread, Hurts has had a hand in the offense becoming calcified.”

Last year, Hurts reportedly deviated from the original game plan made by the offensive coordinator and the head coach. Furthermore, he was resistant to the play calls in an attempt to modernize the offensive unit. For example, he didn’t like taking snaps under the center. The refusal to implement the pre-snap motions and strategies given by the former OC, Kevin Patullo, reportedly led to internal conflict, and the latter was fired. Patullo was replaced by Sean Mannion.

Here’s the thing: Hurts’ massive deal of $255 million keeps him at the organization until the 2028 season. However, unlike franchise QBs like Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, and Lamar Jackson, his big cap hit wasn’t restructured to create cap space, which also raised eyebrows about his future. Some would say he has reached an inflection point.

After the 2026 season, his dead money will be $67 million. That amount could be spread over two years with the help of a post-June 1 transaction. After all, the Eagles have shown no intention of extending his contract this offseason. If the reported internal tension remains unsolved, he is unable to adjust to the new offensive strategies, and the Eagles underperform again, his future could hang in the balance.

Despite the heavy financial burden, the Denver Broncos cut ties with Russell Wilson ahead of the 2024 season, and the Miami Dolphins released Tua Tagovailoa. Hence, a similar move for Jalen Hurts wouldn’t be surprising at all.

For now, the coming season seems like an interesting one for Hurts and the Eagles. The run game should thrive if the offensive line stays healthy, and while it will take them time to get back to their ways in 2024, they should be somewhere at the top of the league.