Why Eagles Are Hesitant To Pay Jalen Carter Massive Extension This Summer

Jalen Carter is one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL. A Super Bowl champion, Carter made the game-changing play in the playoffs that helped the Eagles win the title.

Without Carter, there is no second Super Bowl title in Philadelphia.

So what's the problem? Why haven't the Eagles put pen to paper and have given Carter a massive contract extension yet?

There's still plenty of time to give Carter a contract extension, but the Eagles have chosen to wait it out before giving their prized defensive tackle a massive pay day.

The Eagles paid premium draft picks Jalen Hurts, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, and DeVonta Smith prior to May in recent years, yet did not do the same with Carter the year he was extension eligible (this year).

Carter and the Eagles could always come to in extension in the coming weeks, but why are the Eagles hesitant to give him an extension?

Carter wasn't dominant last season

If Carter wasn't to use last season as a reason for getting a contract extension, he might want to hold back on using that argument.

Carter played just 11 games last season, having 41 pressures, 12 QB hits, and 3.0 sacks. There were times he was dominant, but Carter wasn't as good last year as the season before.

The pressure rate was up from 10.4% to 10.8%, but the QB hits, sacks, and pressures were down from Carter's breakout 2024 season. Carter still had seven pass breakups, but didn't have a forced fumble and has tackles for loss decreased from 12 to 5.

Carter was good last year, but wasn't great. Even though Carter made the Pro Bowl, the Eagles want to see more consistent production from Carter going forward, They didn't get that last year.

Shoulder injuries

Carter's shoulders were a problem throughout last season, as he was in enough pain in both his shoulders that he couldn't lift weights. If Carter couldn't get stronger during the season, how can he be consistently productive?

The shoulder injuries were enough of a problem for Carter to miss parts of training camp with the injury, then aggravated it in Week 3 of last season -- which lasted the whole year. Carter missed Week 6, then three games in December after having the procedure.

The shoulder injuries affected Carter's performance, and they were enough for Carter to use as an excuse to "hold in" during mandatory minicamp by not participating in team drills.

Off-field incidents

Carter's maturity issues came into question last season, when he was thrown out of the game before the first play after the spitting incident towards Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. He was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and disqualified, letting Prescott spitting in the direction of the Eagles sideline affect him.

Carter faced the standard NFL fine for unsportsmanlike conduct, but wasn't suspended. The incident is a stain on his resume, following his involving the street-racing crash that claimed the lives of Georgia staff member Chandler LeCroy and Georgia offensive lineman Devin Willock.

There are some maturity issues with Carter than need to be addressed. The spitting incident didn't help matters.

How Eagles work extensions

The Eagles prefer extensions that are team friendly, not ones that are going to reset the market.

Jalen Hurts signed his massive extension in 2023 that made him the highest-paid quarterback, but that was for only 10 days before Lamar Jackson passed him. Hurts is the 12th-highest paid quarterback in the NFL in terms of average annual salary, and the only quarterback that has won a Super Bowl while having a contract worth $50+ million a year.

Dickerson was the highest-paid guard when he signed his extension, but his deal is also team friendly now.

The Eagles were hoping to get an extension done with Carter this spring, but it never materialized. Carter and his representation (Drew Rosenhaus) are looking to reset the market, which went up with the Jeffery Simmons extension.

An extension with Carter can still get done, but the Eagles are more than willing to see if Carter can be more consistent with his play on the field and show maturity issues off the field.

If Carter can do that, a deal can be done -- and Carter may get what he wants as well.

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