How Jalen Hurts, Eagles Teammates Believe Best Is Yet To Come For Jalen Carter

The Philadelphia Eagles' defensive tackle met with reporters after the first training camp practice to discuss the contract extension that will make him the NFL's highest-paid player at his position, and his teammates chimed in.

Eagles Jalen Carter takes part in his first training camp practice after signing a four-year contract extension that guarantees him $106 million. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA – Jalen Hurts left his house to report for training camp with a $5 bill tucked inside his backpack. An inside joke, he said, between he and his wife, Bry. The Eagles quarterback made his way to the Jefferson Health Training Complex on Tuesday, found Jalen Carter, and took that $5 bill and planted it on Carter’s chest.

“I said, ‘You put $5 on top of that,’” said Hurts, relaying the story after the Eagles’ first training camp practice on Wednesday. “We were just having a little fun, but he’s a great competitor, a great player. He was disrupting practice out there today. I’m just excited about him being able to focus on what’s to come and move forward.”

Carter had just signed a contract that will make him the highest-paid defensive tackle in NFL history, a four-year extension with $106 million guaranteed and an annual payout of $38M.

It might be that $5 bill meant more to the 25-year-old Carter than the hundred-plus million coming his way through the remainder of his 20s.

“That’s my guy, man,” said Carter. “He’s just so professional. When he’s around, it’s just a different feeling. He’s like a big brother also. When I talk to him, it’s one-on-one; it’s always serious talk. It’s never play around. I got a lot of support in him.”

Frame It Or Spend It?

Carter said he carried that $5 around all day and brought it home. Not without some angst, however. It turned out the $5 bill slipped from his pocket at some point, only to be returned by a teammate. He’s not sure if he’ll spend it or frame it.

“I said if he would’ve signed it would probably be worth $500,” he said. “It’s at the house.”

Jalen Carter talked on July 29, 2026, after the Eagles' first training camp practice and a day after Carter became the highest-paid defensive tackle in the NFL. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

Carter talked after practice, right after Hurts, who usually goes last in the post-practice and postgame interview process. He said that he wasn’t looking to be the highest-paid defensive tackle in the league. It just happened that way.

“It was important for me to stay here with the guys that I know and have been playing with for the last three years,” he said. “Like I said, I let my agent (Drew Rosenhaus) do most of the talking. The numbers weren’t in my head like that. They came back to me with information, and we got a deal done and I’m happy to be here.”

Carter’s mother, Toni Brown, took control of things, too, as a middle person between Rosenhaus and her son, so Carter could spend his summer working out and not be bothered by the negotiations.

General manager Howie Roseman had said they wanted to get a deal done all the way back in March, but sometimes these big-money deals take longer than you hope. Either way, it’s done.

Lane Johnson Was Right

“I told him his rookie year that this is where he was headed,” said right tackle Lane Johnson. “He had the potential to be a great, dominating player in this league. I think he’s only scratching the surface of what he’s gonna become. He has the ability with that size, few guys can move like that at that size and weight. I think this will just be a huge incentive to keep progressing and become the dominant force we all know he is.”

This is how the Eagles operate, not necessarily paying big money to what a player has done but what they believe he has the potential to become. Carter has that potential.

“We’re not paying for what he’s done but paying you for what you’re gonna do,” said running back Saquon Barkley. “You guys don’t understand how scary he can actually be, so I’m excited for him, his family. It’s a big contract, it’s a great contract, but he deserves it. He’s a heckuva player. We all know there’s another level he can take it to and I’m excited to watch that.”

Last year, Carter was hampered by shoulder injuries, limiting him to 11 games and reducing the stats he is capable of producing.

“You could say it affected me a good amount,” he said, “but I’m not letting that get to me. It’s a new season. I’m taking step by step to get better every day.”

Those steps will be heavier now, with money potentially weighing him down. Money, after all, impacts every athlete – both negatively and positively, but Carter is downplaying his newfound wealth.

“I don’t think the money’s ever gonna change me,” he said. “When you get picked in the first round in the top 10, you kind of get a little bit of decent money, and that didn’t change me. I still came in; I had a goal, let the team know, and let the fans know that the goal was to get a championship, and it happened. It’s a new contract, and now it’s time to get more championships for the city of Philly.”