Eagles sign defensive tackle Jalen Carter to a contract extension through 2031, make him highest-paid defensive tackle in NFL history

The Eagles are continuing to invest in the defensive trenches this offseason, agreeing to terms with Jalen Carter on a four-year extension to keep him under contract through 2031, the team announced on Tuesday.

The deal is worth $152 million, with $106 million guaranteed, NFL sources told The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane. His $38 million average annual value when the new contract begins will make him the highest-paid defensive tackle in league history.

Carter, 25, is headed into the fourth year of his rookie deal and had his fifth-year option exercised in April. By extending him now, on the day players report to training camp, the Eagles are preventing Carter from eventually testing the market as a free agent.

Since the Eagles drafted him No. 9 overall in the 2023 draft out of Georgia, Carter has asserted himself as one of the top defensive tackles in the league. He earned original-ballot Pro Bowl nods in back-to-back seasons in 2024 and 2025. In his rookie season in 2023, Carter finished as the runner-up for the AP defensive rookie of the year award to Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson.

Carter took on the biggest workload on the defensive line in the Eagles’ 2024 Super Bowl-winning season, playing 79.4% of the defensive snaps. But Carter entered the 2025 season nursing shoulder injuries, forcing him to miss three games in the second half of the year while recovering from procedures.

Due to his injuries, Carter wasn’t entirely himself last season, and he admitted as much during the year. He generated a career-low 7.7% pressure rate while facing a double team on a career-low 41.7% of his pass rushes, according to Next Gen Stats. He had five pressures on 158 double-teams, a drop-off compared to his output in 2023 (12) and 2024 (15).

Carter was not present for the two sessions of organized team activities — both voluntary — open to the media this offseason. He was on the field during mandatory minicamp, but he did not participate in team drills. In June, Nick Sirianni would not say whether his lack of participation was related to his contract or his injuries. However, Vic Fangio said in late May he thinks Carter’s shoulders are “fine.”

“He’s had a good offseason of lifting,” Fangio said. “I think he started that earlier than normal for him and you can see the difference in that regard. I think he’s in a better spot now than he was.”

By inking Carter to a new deal, the Eagles are showing they believe he can elevate his play going forward. The same can be said for Jordan Davis, whom the Eagles signed to a three-year, $78 million deal in March. Between the two defensive tackles, the Eagles have security on the defensive side of the trenches.

Carter and Davis were two of the defensive candidates eligible for extensions heading into 2026. Moro Ojomo, who turns 25 in August, has not received one as he enters the final year of his rookie deal. With this new crop of young defenders earning lucrative contracts, general manager Howie Roseman is attempting to balance the scales by adding inexpensive talent through the draft, notably on offense this year.