Eagles’ Jake Elliott on contract extension: ‘I’ve embraced the city’
He’s having a career year, making all 14 of his field goal attempts and going 21-for-23 on extra points.
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Eagles kicker Jake Elliott said he gives himself only one minute to think about a kick before forcing himself to move on.
How long does he give himself to bask in the glory of his new five-year, $21.8 million contract?
“One minute,” the 24-year-old said on Friday.
On Wednesday, Elliott received $10.45 million guaranteed, the third-highest for a kicker in the NFL.
He’s having a career year, making all 14 of his field goal attempts and going 21-for-23 on extra points. His longest kick this season was a 53-yarder against the Minnesota Vikings on Oct. 13.
The Cincinnati Bengals drafted Elliott out of Memphis in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL draft but waived him and placed him on their practice squad after training camp that year. The Eagles signed him to their active roster, and he’s been consistently productive ever since.
“It’s been a wild ride,” Elliott said. “From getting plucked off the practice squad a couple of years ago to signing this deal, it means a lot to me. They’ve shown they have confidence in me. But it’s still the same job, and I’m going to keep pushing. ... Obviously it feels good to have something in writing. Philly is a place that has embraced me. I’ve embraced the city. I love it here. It means a lot.”
Elliott has made the 11th-most field goals in the league since his debut in 2017. Among kickers with more than 50 attempts during that time, Elliott is No. 8 in field-goal accuracy at 86.8%.
His career-long, and perhaps his most notable kick, came during his rookie season when he hit a 61-yarder to beat the New York Giants. Elliott also went 7-for-7 on field goals in the 2017 playoffs.
The Eagles have now extended Elliott, tackle Lane Johnson, guard Brandon Brooks, and long snapper Rick Lovato mid-season for long-term deals.
“First of all, I’m excited for these guys,” coach Doug Pederson said. “To be able to take our own guys and extend them and have that consistency for the next four or five years — especially with the type of player that [Elliott] is and the type of person that he is — it just helps your team.”