Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts reportedly struggled to handle the pressure that came with signing a five-year, $255 million extension before last season, according to NFL reporter Derrick Gunn.

Per that story, Hurts was “pulled in numerous directions” on and off the field after inking the agreement, which came in the wake of a great 2022 season that saw him finish as the MVP runner-up to Patrick Mahomes and lead the Eagles to the Super Bowl.

There’s little doubt that Hurts wasn’t as good in 2023 as he was in 2022. While he finished with slightly more passing yards (3,858 to 3,701) and passing touchdowns (23 to 22), he also threw nine more interceptions (15 to 6), finished with a slightly worse completion percentage (65.4 to 66.5), and rushed for 155 fewer yards (605 to 760), though he did have two more rushing scores than 2022, 15 to 13.

More crucially, the Eagles went from being 14-1 in Hurts’ starts in 2022 with a trip to the Super Bowl to merely 11-6 in his starts in 2023, a season that included an exit in the Wild Card Round against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Hurts also seemed obviously agitated in the second part of the season, as the Eagles lost six of their final seven matchups, including the playoffs. There were reports that he didn’t align with offensive coordinator Brian Johnson’s philosophical approach to the offense, and the Eagles replaced him with Kellen Moore this offseason.

Perhaps a new voice directing the offensive will help. Hurts will also have an offseason to address some of the looks defenders are throwing at him and work on possible flaws, like his troubles against the blitz. And it’s not as though he was bad in 2023. But he obviously took a step back.

It’s a big season in Philadelphia, and head coach Nick Sirianni is undoubtedly on the hot seat given the team’s stunning disaster to conclude the year following a 10-1 start. He replied by replacing both of his coordinators, as Vic Fangio will take over on the defensive side after the Eagles tried out both Sean Desai and Matt Patricia in the post last year.

The Eagles had clear personnel flaws as well, albeit mostly on the defensive side of the ball, where the secondary and linebackers were plain bad. That falls to general manager Howie Roseman this offseason.

There’s plenty of soul-searching to go around in Philadelphia, but for the team to return to a contender level, Hurts needs to be closer to the player he was in 2022 than in 2023.