Why Jalen Carter is the Eagles' most intriguing player in 2025, and what his ceiling is, both on the field and in salary
PHILADELPHIA − No doubt, Jalen Carter knows all about T.J. Watt's new contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and is eagerly anticipating the megadeal that Cowboys star Micah Parsons will likely get at some point.
Watt recently became the highest-paid non-quarterback in average annual salary at $41 million when he signed a three-year deal worth as much as $123 million. Watt joined the Browns' Myles Garrett in the $40 million AAV club.
Carter, of course, is a defensive tackle. And currently, the Chiefs' Chris Jones is the highest paid at the position, with an AAV of $31.8 million.
It's safe to assume that Carter's next contract will fall somewhere in between Watt's and Jones' deals, if not exceed them.
And that could happen as soon as next offseason. Carter, the Eagles' first-round pick (No. 9 overall) in the 2023 draft, is that good as he enters his third NFL season. In many ways, Carter is the glue that holds the Eagles' defensive line together, not to mention the entire defense.
That's why Carter is No. 1 on our list of 12 most intriguing Eagles heading into the start of training camp on July 22. We're counting them down each weekday from No. 12 to No. 1. The series began July 7 and will culminate with the start of camp.
At the very least, the Eagles will have to decide by next May whether to pick up the fifth-year option on Carter's rookie contract, which could be worth as much as $15 million for 2027.
But the Eagles will try to sign Carter to a long-term deal instead. They have had a history of doing this with their rising young stars well before they hit free agency. They did this in April when they signed center Cam Jurgens to an extension averaging $17 million per season, making him the second-highest paid center in the NFL.
The year before, the Eagles did this with left guard Landon Dickerson with an average annual salary of $21 million, which at the time made him the highest-paid guard in the NFL. They also signed wide receiver DeVonta Smith to an average deal of $25 million.
And the Eagles have already started planning for Carter's pending second contract. Many of their offseason moves after winning the Super Bowl were in part designed to create enough space for Carter, not to mention second contracts for edge rusher Nolan Smith (also eligible after this season), and defensive backs Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean when they're eligible.
It's easy to see why the Eagles think so highly of Carter.
Carter played more than 90% of the snaps in 8 of the 19 games, including playoffs, that he played in last season. Compare that to Eagles legend Fletcher Cox, who played 90% of the snaps in a game just six times in 12 seasons.
Don't expect Carter's workload to decrease this season.
Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, for example, pointed to Carter's gave-saving sack of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford near the end of the divisional playoff game, which the Eagles won 28-22.
"In Jalen's case, the two plays he had at the end of the Rams game, which everybody has alluded to many times, those were his 68th and 69th snaps in that game," Fangio said.
Can he do that again?
"He's still a young pup," Fangio said.
That, in a sense, is the scary thing about Carter. He's just 24 years old, and he admitted that there are plenty of things he can still improve on.
"Pretty much everything, because every game we play there’s gonna be one mistake where I thought I was best at it, but it showed in film that some offensive line studied me and got me off that, making me look bad or whatever," Carter said. "You have to work on everything."
That includes double teams, something Carter saw a lot of last season, and will no doubt continue to see going forward. That, of course, will mean one-on-ones for the Eagles' edge rushers, not to mention the defensive tackles next to Carter in Jordan Davis and/or Moro Ojomo and rookie Ty Robinson.
None of that fazes Carter, who had 4.5 sacks, 45 QB pressures and 5 passes defensed while playing 80% of the snaps.
Celebrate the Eagles' Super Bowl win with our new book
Carter said he'll gladly play as much as Fangio wants him to.
"I’m having fun out there," Carter said. "If I could play every down, I’d love it. But if I have to get out because I need a break or something, I know the next guy will step up for me."
And if Carter does it well enough, well, he could end up with a pay day on the scale of Watt, Garrett and Parsons as soon as next spring. Not that Carter views the 2025 season that way.
"Money’s good and all that," Carter said. "But after we won that ring, you saw how (happy) we all looked. That’s better than just one person getting paid."
Contact Martin Frank at [email protected]. Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Read his coverage of the Eagles’ championship season in “Flying High,” a new hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at Fly.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Jalen Carter: Philadelphia Eagles 12 most intriguing players 2025
Category: Football
