I can already smell the freshly cut grass. I can hear the players’ barks, grunts and screams of excitement. I can feel the August sun.
Training camp is almost here. Which means football season is almost here.
And, man, what an offseason it has been. So before we look ahead to the 2026 season, let’s make sure we take stock of the offseason, which will inform what comes next. I’ve been on paternity leave, and I can’t wait to hit on a few controversies and blockbuster trades. There’s nothing better.
This is “Sound Smart,” where I try to spin forward, dive deeper and think outside the box. If I do my job, you’ll have a better understanding of what really happened during the NFL offseason.
1.
When it comes to Jalen Hurts, there might not be a quarterback who says less but who is discussed more. Hurts is actually the personification of a handful of clichés about football players.
For example: He lets his play do the talking.
Here’s another one: All he wants to do is win.
That’s the personified cliché that interested me most as the Philadelphia Eagles’ 2025 season wound down. Ironically, in a league that values winning above all else, Hurts’ obsession with winning is what makes him polarizing. His at-times unorthodox playing style makes for a nontraditional path to victory. It’s also possible that distinctive playing style is what led star receiver A.J. Brown to leave Philly.
A.J. Brown (11) spent four seasons with Jalen Hurts in Philly and topped 1,000 receiving yards each year. The disgruntled receiver was traded to the Patriots this offseason. (Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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But Hurts does win — quite often. He has won 69.5% of his games as a starter, ninth-best all time (among QBs with at least 70 starts). It’s just a hair below Peyton Manning (70.2%) and it’s better than Aaron Rodgers’ mark (63.6%).
You’d think that’s the type of statistic that implies greatness. But you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who’d call Hurts “elite.”
There’s the crowd that doesn’t think wins are a quarterback stat. To some degree, I’m with them. Football is a team game. When a team loses, the blame unfairly falls on the quarterback. And when a team wins, the praise overwhelmingly lands on the QB. Roughly five years ago, it felt like wins were an overly common metric to measure a QB’s success. And yes, again, that was unfair.
But there are exceptions to the rule. Hurts might just be one of them.
“I think it’s convenient,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni told me in April when I asked about how to assess Hurts’ winning percentage. “It’s convenient to say that wins matter for this particular player. And then sometimes we forget about that [and say wins don’t matter]. I think wins for a quarterback is huge. And I think what you’ve seen with Jalen is he’s won every different way we’ve asked him to, and I think that’s what I admire about him.”
Kansas City Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the perfect example of a player whose wins are a clear reflection of his success. During the Chiefs’ incredible Super Bowl run, five title games in six seasons, Mahomes was widely considered the best QB in the NFL, even when his statistics were average at best. Because he was winning. The longer he did it, the more those wins became a part of his legacy.
And yet the same isn’t true of Hurts.
In my conversation with Sirianni, I bought up Tom Brady, who spent most of his early career with the New England Patriots dealing with criticism that he was a game manager and a system quarterback — even after winning three Super Bowls. At many different points in his career, Brady sacrificed his individual statistics for team success. When the Patriots lost, it made the criticism of Brady even louder.
That must sound familiar to the Eagles.
“That’s what I’m saying,” Sirianni told me. “What’s bizarre is like, we look at these stats and put a player’s worth on it. Like, ‘Oh, he threw for a lot of touchdowns.’ Well, you know what? When we get down in the red zone to win the game, we run it, and when we get real close, the quarterback sneaks it in. So maybe he doesn’t have as many touchdown passes. And that affects your passing efficiency [and passer rating].
“What does that matter when you’re scoring the touchdown? That’s the ultimate goal there, and I’m really thankful to have a quarterback that’s like that.”
Now, of course, Brady has seven Super Bowl wins and Mahomes has three. Hurts has one. And maybe those numbers — alone — explain why he gets different treatment, despite having a similar mentality to Brady and Mahomes.
Early in his career, Tom Brady, seen here with Hurts after the NFC wild-card playoff game 2022, was labeled by some as a game manager and a system quarterback. (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images)
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Hurts has dealt with plenty of criticism following the team’s defeat to the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round of last season’s playoffs. Infamously, we now know Hurts asked his coaches to let him run four-verts on the team’s final offensive play from scrimmage, where he threw an incompletion. He called his shot, which included a play that is as simple as plays come, and it didn’t work. He took the blame publicly.
“They played a cover-four structure,” Hurts told reporters, saying that was the expected coverage. “I just didn’t make the play. I own it. I own it all.”
But the Eagles’ struggles led to the trade of their star receiver, Brown.
The Eagles also fired offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo.
Philly’s issues have also triggered speculation that maybe the Eagles could move on from Hurts — not this offseason but perhaps in 2027, particularly following an ESPN report in April that the QB is not always receptive to coaching.
I, for one, thought the anecdotes in the story showed Hurts’ strong-willed leadership style, the type that generates respect for Rodgers. In this case of comparison, Rodgers has one Super Bowl victory, just like Hurts. The key difference is that Rodgers’ physical tools in his prime (particularly as a thrower) were undeniable. Hurts’ arm can’t compare to Rodgers.
Aaron Rodgers’ lone title came in Super Bowl XLV, a 31-25 win over the Steelers on Feb. 6, 2011. (Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images)
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One year after Hurts’ Super Bowl win and Super Bowl MVP, he is among the league’s most polarizing quarterbacks.
Pull up the lowlights and you’ll see a QB who struggles to optimize an offense with some of the league’s best skill players. Pull up the highlights and you’ll see a guy who just finds a way while blending his rare mobility and throwing abilities.
“He’ll do whatever he needs to do,” Sirianni told me. “Every quarterback wants to throw it, but there’s times where he knows that the best thing for us to win the game is to hand it off or to run it. And that’s what you admire about him, because all he really cares about at the end of the day is getting the win. And I love that about him.”
Sirianni added: “When your best players play that way and live that way, that sets the table for the entire football team.”
When I asked Sirianni for examples of Hurts’ will to win, he picked neither the highest highs nor the lowest lows. He picked a pair of games I didn’t expect.
First, he brought up Philadelphia’s 38-7 win over the New York Giants in the divisional round of the 2022 playoffs, when Hurts was 16-of-24 for 154 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 34 yards and another touchdown. Even if you look at the advanced statistics, you won’t come away marveling at what Hurts did. The Giants blitzed on 53.8% of his dropbacks, and he managed the game and avoided mistakes.
But this was a game Sirianni brought up to exemplify Hurts’ winning mindset. He quietly played his role in a massive blowout that set off a run to the Super Bowl (where the Eagles lost to the Chiefs).
Then, Sirianni brought up another playoff game — this time from 2024 during Philadelphia’s Super Bowl-winning run. Hurts was 13-of-21 for 131 yards and two touchdowns with 36 rushing yards. Again, ho-hum. But the Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers 22-10 in the wild-card round.
“We didn’t throw for a bunch of yards. We didn’t play great on offense,” Sirianni told me. “All Jalen wanted to do is win that game and move on. And we ended up doing the most ultimate thing [by winning the Super Bowl]. And so he’s a stud. I can’t say enough good things about it.”
Hurts and Nick Sirianni have had their differences, but the Eagles’ head coach is happy to have a quarterback whose main goal is to win the game. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
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The Eagles are not necessarily rebuilding this year, but without Brown, they might not be the same juggernaut. Hurts will have to do more, and with his sixth offensive coordinator in his seventh NFL season. Hurts will have to contribute in bigger — and perhaps unorthodox — ways.
And you can bet that the success of his season will be measured one way — above all others.
It’ll be the Eagles’ win total. Hurts’ win total.
That’s all that matters to him. And you’re kidding yourself if you don’t admit it’s what really matters.
2.
I haven’t yet seen the “Dream Team” expression bopping around. And even though it’s something of a curse, it’s also fairly accurate when looking at what the Rams have assembled. These are The Avengers.
Iron Man: Matthew Stafford
Black Panther: Myles Garrett
Captain America: Kyren Williams
Falcon: Blake Corum
Doctor Strange: Sean McVay
Spider-Man: Puka Nacua
Vision: Davante Adams
Thor: Alaric Jackson
Loki: Trent McDuffie
War Machine: Kevin Dotson
Now, I know you’re wondering … who’s The Hulk? Or maybe you already know: Aaron Donald.
This team was a play away from making the Super Bowl last year. And so L.A. responded by adding two of the league’s most outstanding players: record-setting edge rusher Garrett and All-Pro cornerback McDuffie. They might just add their third in Donald, one of the best defensive linemen ever. He was spotted working out at the Rams’ facility after the team added Garrett. Donald reportedly wanted to do a trial run on his body after two seasons in retirement.
Will Aaron Donald (right) and Myles Garrett join forces on the same defensive line in 2026? (Photo by: 2019 Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
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If (and maybe when) Donald returns, the Rams could quickly form the most unblockable defensive line since the turn of the millennium. Because nose tackle Poona Ford might not be a household name, but he was the team’s top-rated defensive player in 2026, per PFF. He’s incredibly reliable despite his humble stats: 47 tackles and two sacks.
It has long been a curse to throw around “Dream Team.” And I wouldn’t dare.
But … also … how could you not?!
3.
It has stuck with me that, in the A.J. Brown trade, the Eagles received a 2028 first-round pick.
When they make that selection, the country will be talking about the next presidential election. We’ll be about ready to watch the L.A. Olympics. And NASA will have sent someone back to the moon for the first time since the 1970s.
In other words, that feels a long way away.
When the teams began seriously talking about the deal at the NFL Combine in February, the pick was three drafts away. So not only did the Eagles decide they were OK with bypassing the 2026 pick (in large part because of the financial incentives for waiting until June 1 to split up Brown’s salary cap hit), but Philly also accepted that it wouldn’t get a 2027 first-rounder either.
Nominally, the compensation looked like a win for the Eagles: a first-rounder. But it’s not so clear-cut, given how long they’ll have to wait to get paid (so to speak). Yes, they’ll also got a 2027 fifth-rounder, but if Eagles GM Howie Roseman converts that pick into a starter, then it’ll be his best fifth-round selection … ever. It’s not an area of the draft where Roseman has thrived.
A.J. Brown is all smiles with the Patriots, but will the Eagles ultimately be happy with their compensation in the trade? (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
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The point is, this deal looked typical on paper: an (aging) star receiver for a first-rounder. But I think it’s much more unusual than you’d think. In fact, I can’t think of a deal over the past few years that (effectively) deferred payment quite like this one.
“We’ve always been in the mindset a pick is a pick — a first-round pick is a first-round pick. Doesn’t matter. Teams are still going to be playing football in 2028,” Roseman said last month after the trade. “I know there’s a lot of attention on the 2027 draft, but at the same time, looking at the ‘28 draft, I feel confident that that’s going to be a good draft as well, and that we’ll be in position to really improve our football team.”
That helps explain, at least partially, why the Patriots were happy to defer payment — and give up that 2028 pick.
This year, they’re all-in on the core they’ve built around Mike Vrabel. In free agency, New England snagged receiver Romeo Doubs, guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones and safety Kevin Byard to serve as starters. The Patriots have actually upgraded their Super Bowl roster, which suffered only a few key departures, like receiver Stefon Diggs, DT Khyris Tonga, edge K’Lavon Chaisson — most of whom the team promptly replaced.
Next year’s draft class is about as hyped as draft classes get, loaded with elite quarterback and receiver prospects. (Yes, the Patriots already have their quarterback. But if five quarterbacks go before the Patriots make their pick, that means the prospect that slides to them is that much better.) New England was smart to hold onto that selection.
The Patriots want to stack their roster as they build around Drake Maye. But they also want to build a young core, which was sorely lacking following the departures of coaches Bill Belichick and Jerod Mayo.
“We have to win. That’s our job, is to win,” Vrabel said following the trade when asked about the first-round pick — and whether his team is in win-now mode.
Mike Vrabel reunites with A.J. Brown, whom he coached when both were with the Tennessee Titans. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
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This deal is a major investment in the Patriots now. It’s also more of a coup for New England than people realize.
It’s possible that Brown isn’t on the Eagles in 2028 when the team makes the Patriots’ first-round selection. But that won’t necessarily mean that the Patriots didn’t win the trade.
4.
What happened here?
The NFL players ranked their peers this offseason, and Jackson fell from No. 2 to 69th in the “NFL 100” rankings. So far, Jackson hasn’t responded, not on X nor in a press conference setting. But it’s pretty safe to assume that he saw it, in part because he doesn’t live under a rock and in part because he reposted the news that Zay Flowers landed at 71st in the same ranking. It’s just that Jackson couldn’t have possibly expected to land just two spots away.
Two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson dealt with hamstring, back, knee, ankle and toe injuries last season. But when he’s healthy, he’s still one of the league’s most dynamic players. (Photo by Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)
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It’s one thing for a player to get criticism from the media. It’s another to see this level of disrespect from his fellow players.
It’s possible that Jackson’s athleticism is fading. It’s possible that his body is breaking down. No doubt, he struggled to play through injuries last year. But I don’t see what the players are seeing. I don’t see him landing at this spot in 2026.
Lamar is going to be a top 10 QB — and perhaps even a top 10 player overall.
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