For all of the hype around how good Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter is and has been through his 1st 3 seasons, the stats don’t always back up how good we are always told that he is.
ESPN’s Seth Walder put the Eagles and Carter on blast recently for his 4-year, $152 million contract extension. The deal, signed on July 28, included $106.8 million in guaranteed money and made Carter the highest-paid interior defensive lineman in NFL history.
Carter, a 2023 1st-round pick (No. 9 overall), has sandwiched 2 pretty average seasons in 2023 and 2025 around a brilliant 2024, when he was named NFL All-Pro and was arguably the best player on a Super Bowl-winning defense.
“The numbers don’t back Carter up as elite … yet,” Walder wrote on August 7. “After registering a 90th percentile pass rush win rate along with six sacks as a rookie in 2023, his down-to-down metrics have fallen off. He dropped to the 52nd percentile (with 4.5 sacks) in 2024 and rebounded a bit to the 66th percentile (and three sacks) last season, though six pass breakups in each of those campaigns help his cause. Similarly, his run stop win rate was elite as a rookie and then just above average in each of the following two seasons. Carter has reached the Pro Bowl in each of the past two years and was a second-team All-Pro in 2024. He’s a very good player, especially if we’re looking forward (which we should be) … it makes sense for the Eagles to want Carter on their roster for a long time. But the price feels steep.”
Eagles Put ‘Unusual’ Weight Clause in Contract
Even with all of the money they’re paying him, the Eagles still don’t trust Carter to take care of his body in the offseason — something he’s shown little willingness to do over his 1st 3 seasons.
According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, the Eagles have included a clause in Carter’s contract that pays him an extra $250,000 per year — a total of $1 million — if he keeps his weight down.
Carter’s weight concerns date back to his college days at the University of Georgia, where he weighed 314 pounds at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine but was 9 pounds heavier at Georgia’s Pro Day less than 1 month later.
“After signing defensive tackle Jalen Carter to a record-setting deal, Eagles G.M. Howie Roseman said he has no off-field concerns about the player,” Florio wrote on July 30. “Based on the contract details, the team has at least one … while $250,000 represents a relatively small piece of Carter’s financial puzzle, the issue was significant enough for the Eagles to bargain for a specific incentive for Carter to keep his weight under a specific maximum. The term is an unusual one. Over the years, we’ve broken down many veteran contracts. Not many include a weight bonus.”
Jalen Carter’s Weight Relates to Performance
Carter’s rookie year in 2023 was — put as politely as possible — a learning experience for both player and team as he showed up out of shape and questions about his work ethic dogged him all season as the Eagles fell apart down the stretch.
In 2024, Carter was beyond reproach. He showed up in shape and dominated from the start of the season through the Eagles’ 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.
In 2025, Carter showed up out of shape again and frankly looked sloppy — both in appearance and in play. He also started off the season by getting ejected in the 1st game before the ball was even snapped after he spat on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. Things didn’t get much better from there as the Eagles looked disjointed on both sides of the ball for the majority of the year and ended their season with a home loss to the MASH unit San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Wild Card Round.
NFL Analyst Calls Eagles DT Jalen Carter ‘Not Elite’ Enough for $152M Contract