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Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Philadelphia Eagles have shown a tremendous amount of patience with quarterback Jalen Hurts, and it’s paid off in some pretty tremendous ways.

For every “down” season Hurts has had — 2023 and 2025 are the biggest examples — he’s been equally as brilliant in that same stretch. Hurts was an NFL All-Pro in 2022 and led the Eagles to the Super Bowl, where they lost a thriller to the Kansas City Chiefs and he played arguably the best game of his career.

In 2024, Hurts was once again brilliant, this time leading the Eagles to the NFL’s best regular-season record and a dominant win over the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX on the way to earning Super Bowl MVP honors.

If Hurts struggles again in 2026, however, that patience may have finally run out, and The Ringer’s Sheil Kapadia proposed a scenario in which the Eagles, grown frustrated with Hurts, trade him to the Houston Texans for quarterback C.J. Stroud, who has been on the same rollercoaster career path as Hurts since he broke into the NFL in 2023.

Hurts Could Return Home in Proposed Trade

One aspect of Hurts coming to the Texans would be the appeal of bringing home a native son. Hurts was born in Houston and starred at Channelview High School in the Houston suburbs.

“Think of it this way, (Texans general manager) Nick Caserio and (Texans head coach) DeMeco Ryans finally come to the realization that C.J. Stroud is not the right guy for them,” Kapadia said on “The Ringer NFL Show” on Thursday. “And they start looking at Hurts and thinking ‘steady, doesn’t make mistakes, just what we need’ and a deal starts to get in the works. They look at Hurts and think, hey, he’s a Houston guy, he’s a Houston native, he’s tough-minded like Ryans, he’s perfect for us.”

Any possible Hurts trade would have to come with his approval, as the 5-year, $255 million contract extension he signed before the 2023 season includes a no-trade clause and runs through 2028.

Eagles Could Already Be Planning for Future

Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski believes Hurts may have already played his hand — the franchise won’t go to bat like this for him again — and predicts 2026 5th-round pick Cole Payton could eventually become the Eagles’ next starting quarterback.

Hurts hit a new low in Kevin Patullo’s 1 season on the job in 2025, when Hurts reportedly overrode many of Patullo’s play calls with disastrous results — culminating in a 23-19 home loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Wild Card Round.

Former Packers quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion was hired as Philadelphia’s new offensive coordinator, although the amount of say he will have over the gameplan — or his ability to override Hurts — is very much still in doubt.

“As of now, the Eagles aren’t moving past Hurts,” Sobleski wrote. “The organization can’t. A year from now, he can be released or cut post-June 1 and it would make some financial sense. At this point, it’s impossible to deny the continued rumors of offensive discord emanating from that building. Furthermore, Tanner McKee is now in the last year of his rookie contract and could get an opportunity to start elsewhere once he hits free agency. Payton, whose physical profile matches (or betters) what the Eagles already have in Hurts, will develop over the next year or two, with the possibility of taking over the offense if he shows legitimate progress. Philadelphia’s current setup is the ideal opportunity for Payton to supersede his draft status and eventually thrive in the Eagles’ offense.”