Jalen Carter spent this summer looking like the player the Eagles paid for.
He was healthy. He was wrecking training camp.
And after signing a record-setting extension on July 28, he had every reason to enjoy the moment. Instead, Carter made it clear he understands what the contract means.
“The contract is a reflection of the trust the coaches, the players, the organization have in me,” Carter said the day after inking a $152 million extension. “I’m very thankful for that.”
That trust is now at the center of the Eagles’ bet on one of their most gifted players. Carter’s four-year deal includes $106 million and runs through the 2031 season, making him the highest-paid defensive tackle in the NFL. It’s the kind of investment that says the Eagles believe the dominant version of Carter is the real one.
And they have plenty of reason to think that way. Jordan Davis called Carter a game-wrecker and said the “sky’s the limit” for the rest of his career. Without him, Davis said, the Eagles wouldn’t have reached Super Bowl LIX.
Still, this all comes with history attached.
A year ago, Carter was standing at his locker with regret written all over his face. That came after the ugly moment that opened the 2025 season: six seconds into the opener against the Cowboys, Carter was ejected for spitting on Dak Prescott. He was walked off the field by head of security Dom DiSandro, and the scene immediately became one of the defining embarrassments of the season.
“SpitGate” brought the criticism fast. It fed every doubt about Carter’s maturity and gave new life to the idea that off-field issues might keep him from reaching his full ceiling.
The Eagles didn’t publicly frame the contract that way. When asked whether those concerns played a role in the timing of the deal, general manager Howie Roseman said: “I don’t know what off-field concerns. ... Like anyone when you’re 25 years old, you’re still growing as a person and as a player.”
That answer didn’t erase the question, though. Carter’s background had followed him from Georgia.
With the Eagles, he was benched to begin a 2024 game against Atlanta because of reported tardiness. Last preseason, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said Carter wasn’t in good enough shape.
Then came the spitting incident.
The NFL fined Carter $57,222. Nick Sirianni said any discipline inside the building would stay private. Carter played the next week against the Chiefs, and he did not sit out a snap.
What stood out after the Dallas game was his response. Five hours after the ejection, Carter was apologetic after the Eagles won without him.
He said he felt like he let down his team, fans and family. In his words, being ejected “f***ed me up.”
Teammates noticed the way he handled it.
“He took it on the chin. He knew he made a mistake,” defensive tackle Byron Young told PennLive this week.
“He didn’t say that he didn’t do it. He didn’t try to downplay it.
He accepted it. He took the fine.
He moved on. That’s what he’s supposed to do and what anybody would do.”
The problem was that the incident came before a frustrating season. Carter dealt with shoulder injuries, played in only 11 games, and finished with five tackles for loss.
Clint Hurtt said Carter was “playing limited.” After the Eagles were knocked out by the 49ers in the first round, the offseason brought more questions than answers.
Then Carter answered them the hard way.
He dropped 10 pounds by cutting out sugary juices and what he called “big daddy meals.” He spent the offseason rehabbing his shoulders. He was doing it before the new contract arrived, getting himself ready for training camp.
The payoff showed up immediately.
“You can tell he’s healthy,” Hurtt said. “He’s got the explosive power behind his hands.
He’s more active with using his hands ... It makes the game easier for everybody when he can be the best version of himself.
We saw that in ’24, and that’s the expectation for this year, as well.”
Young was even more direct.
“When he’s healthy, he’s the best defensive tackle in the league. I don’t think it’s really arguable, in my opinion,” Young added. “He just had to get healthy.”
That was obvious throughout the summer. In one-on-ones and in 11-on-11 work, Carter was too much. The freakish talent was on full display at the Jefferson Health Training Complex.
What happened away from the drills mattered too. Hurtt said Carter was “doing the little things the right way” more consistently.
Fangio, who does not hand out praise easily, said Carter’s “attitude’s been good” and his fitness is “better than it’s been.” Davis said he has “definitely” seen Carter mature.
“Coming into the league, it’s a learning process,” Davis said. “You have to learn how to be a professional. You have to learn how to navigate things, how to navigate problems that we didn’t have in college, that we didn’t have in high school.
“Seeing him in all the off-the-field things and seeing him just persevere through everything that he’s been through, I think that’s the biggest thing that I can really take away from it. ... Just know that I’m very proud of him.”
Davis was standing behind reporters when Carter held his post-contract news conference, smiling through the moment as his teammate got his turn to celebrate. Carter could have coasted after that. He could have rested on the guarantee and the prestige that comes with it.
But Roseman made the team’s thinking plain: the Eagles didn’t pay Carter for what he has already done. They’re paying him “based on future performance.”
That leaves Carter with the same task he has now carried into the 2026 opener against the Commanders: prove the faith is justified. A better start on Sunday than the one he gave the Eagles in Week 1 last year would be a strong place to begin.
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