After the NFC Championship Game beatdown of the Washington Commanders, Eagles center Cam Jurgens sat very still on a stool outside his locker. After answering about 10 minutes of questions, he stood up very gingerly, very slowly, and hobbled toward the showers. In that moment, he looked way older than his 25 years.
“It sucked,” he said during a Zoom call on Monday evening, minutes after signing a hefty contract extension. “It sucked just getting through it. I think the worst was leading up to that NFC Championship Game, but it feels good knowing I can look back on that and know it was all worth it.
“Thinking about how I was gonna get through this and what’s gonna happen, but when you’re playing on a team, you’re going to lay everything in the line.”
Jurgens wasn’t supposed to play in what became a 55-23 rout of Washington to make Super Bowl LIX, but he needed to after Landon Dickerson, who moved over from guard to take Jurgens’ place at center, was injured and couldn’t continue in the second half.
The doctors took care of his back with offseason surgery, and months later, the Eagles took care of him with a four-year contract extension that will pay Jurgens $68 million, with $39.4M guaranteed.
“It feels kind of surreal,” said the team’s second-round pick out of Nebraska in 2022. “I’ve been playing for as long as I can remember and getting to a point like this, this is life-changing. It’s just crazy.”
The deal will keep him here until 2029 and he became the latest offensive lineman to negotiate an extension these past two offseason, joining left tackle Jordan Mailata and left guard Dickerson, who will be here through at least 2028, and right tackle Lane Johnson, who got an extension earlier this offseason.
These extensions will keep one of the best offensive lines in the NFL – if not the best – together for at least three more years. He is confident his back will hold up, but like he said, “football’s football; injuries happen.”
“It’ still a process,” he said. “Whenever you get surgery, it takes a little bit to get through the rehab process and get back to it, so still going through that. But honestly, I feel like a new man. I feel so much better.
“When you’re going through the playoffs, I’m not really concerned about me. I’m concerned about what I can do to help the team and win. When you’re playing for a Super Bowl, that’s gonna last forever. Back pain’s gonna last however long it wants to last but I’m gonna be a Super Bowl champ forever and I get to be with the Eagles a long time.”
Jurgens, 25, could have rolled the dice and play out his final season on his rookie contract, but he didn’t give that a thought.
“The Eagles love me and I love the Eagles,” he said. “Why wait another year when we can get this done. It’s just as simple as that. I love it here, and I want to stay here, and they want me to stay here, so I’m glad we got it inked.”
