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Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.
In the case of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, 1 anonymous report has seemed to open the floodgates to a world of criticism of the NFL All-Pro and Super Bowl MVP.
The latest to pile on was legendary (and recently retired) Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David, who dismissed Hurts as an elite quarterback in a recent interview.
“Jalen Hurts was never a guy who we were worried about when we played the Eagles,” David said during an appearance on The Arena: Gridiron. “Our game plan was just like, ‘We going make Jalen Hurts beat us.’ We’re going to keep him in the pocket, make him make his reads, understand what defense he’s seeing, and make him beat us.”
The Buccaneers are 1 of the few teams that have had Hurts’ number throughout his career — he’s 2-4 against Tampa Bay, and the Buccaneers also bounced the Eagles out of the playoffs following the 2023 season.
Anonymous Source Puts Jalen Hurts on Blast
ESPN’s report detailed a scenario in which Hurts has been given enough power over the offense to overrule offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo at different times in 2025 — including on the final play of the season — and refuses to change the offense to make it more modern.
After winning the Super Bowl in 2024, the Eagles were knocked out of the NFC Wild Card Round by the Los Angeles Rams in 2025.
The result, in the end, was that Patullo was fired and replaced with Sean Mannion, and the Eagles’ best wide receiver, A.J. Brown, is openly politicking for a trade to get away from Hurts.
“The mere fact that the ESPN report exists becomes proof that the Eagles may be on the brink of playing hardball with Hurts,” Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio wrote. “He’s signed through 2028, and after this season the dead-money charge slips to an eye-popping but manageable $67 million, which could be spread over two years with a post-June 1 transaction.
“… Wednesday’s article may be a pre-OTA shot across the bow to Hurts that his contract doesn’t translate to lifetime employment, and that if he doesn’t start doing what the Eagles want him to do, he may be doing it somewhere else in 2027.”
Lavonte David 1 of NFL’s Greatest Linebackers
David announced his retirement after 14 seasons in an emotional press conference on March 24.
“I just felt it was time,” David said. He was a 3-time NFL All-Pro, Pro Bowler, and Super Bowl champion. He finished his career No. 4 in NFL history with 1,171 solo tackles.
The Buccaneers drafted David in the 2nd round of the 2012 NFL draft, and his 177 career tackles for loss are No. 2 in NFL history. He was also named to the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team.
He’s also only 1 of 3 players in NFL history with 40-plus sacks, 35-plus takeaways alongside Pro Football Hall of Fame linebackers Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher. He’s also 1 of just 7 players to hit 1,700 career tackles alongside Lewis, Junior Seau, Zach Thomas, London Fletcher, and Bobby Wagner.
David also had career numbers of 41.5 sacks, 32 forced fumbles and 14 interceptions.
“In David’s final regular-season game with the Bucs, he tied Pro Football Hall of Famer and Buccaneer Ring of Honor member Derrick Brooks’ franchise tackle record of 1,714, which is also sixth all-time since Statspass began recording tackles as a metric in 1994,” ESPN’s Jenna Laine wrote on Tuesday. “His 215 games played are third most in team history behind Brooks (224) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Rondé Barber (241).
Tony Adame covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame
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