The Philadelphia Eagles are starting off free agency with a loss — a massive one at that.
Coveted edge rusher Jaelan Phillips is headed to the Carolina Panthers on a 4-year, $120 million contract, putting a huge hole in the defense for the Eagles.
“Sources: Jaelan Phillips has agreed to a 4-year, $120 million deal with the Carolina Panthers with $80M in guarantees,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter wrote on his official X account on Monday.
The Eagles made a deft move trading with the Miami Dolphins for Phillips right before the NFL trade deadline, and he ended up being the missing piece on a defense that wound up being elite down the stretch.
“Panthers wanted a top rusher, circling on Jaelen Phillips and Odafe Oweh,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote on his official X account. “Could still add a top linebacker and/or slot corner.”
Huge Miss for Eagles in Free Agency?
While it’s a huge miss for the Eagles in free agency, it might end up being a smart move. Paying $30 million per year for Phillips was probably never in Philadelphia’s plans, and he far exceeded his market projections, where Spotrac predicts his market value in the realm of a 3-year, $52 million contract.
There was little doubt that the number could go much, much higher — some thought as high as high as $80 million — and PFF called the Commanders the “Top Landing Spot” for Phillips in 2026.
“After foregoing the opportunity to upgrade their edge defender unit last offseason, the Commanders paid the price in 2025, ranking among the NFL’s lowest-graded defenses (53.7, 27th),” PFF’s Mason Cameron wrote. “A season-ending knee injury to Dorance Armstrong limited the rotation, resulting in the Commanders’ 23rd-ranked pass-rush win rate off the edge. Now, with their top pressure generators Von Miller and Jacob Martin scheduled to enter free agency, this projects as a good time to upgrade the position. Although injuries limited his time on the field in previous seasons, Phillips showcased his talent as a pass rusher in 2025. He didn’t rack up massive sack production, but he posted the seventh-highest pass-rush win rate (19.1%) among qualifying edge defenders while ranking in the 85th percentile in PFF pass-rush grade on true pass sets.”
Problem With Phillips: Terrible Injury History
The problem with Phillips boils down to injuries.
Even though the 6-foot-5, 260-pound edge rusher played all 17 games in 2025, he missed 19 games over the previous 2 seasons due to a torn ACL in 2023 and torn achilles tendon in 2024. Those are the type of injuries that put a big question mark on making any sort of deal for him.
“Philly vastly overpaid for Phillips, whose sack production has been average since his rookie year,” former NFL scouting director Greg Gabriel wrote on his official X account. “And he’s coming out of contract, so he’s a rental.”
If you know anything about how the Eagles have paid players in recent years, it’s not a leap to think they would be loathe to cough up another big contract to a free agent edge rusher who wasn’t a bona fide star.
It’s kind of where all these problems started for the Eagles in the first place. Before the 2024 season, they coughed up a 3-year, $51.1 million contract for free agent edge rusher Bryce Huff and gave the in-house guy, Josh Sweat, a 1-year, $10 million contract.
Sweat ended up leading the Eagles in sacks — and to a Super Bowl win — and left for a 4-year, $76.4 million free agent contract with the Arizoan Cardinals in free agency.
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