Moro Ojomo isn’t pretending the Eagles’ financial picture is simple.
With Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis landing massive extensions, the defensive tackle knows his own future in Philadelphia has turned murky. Carter’s four-year, $152 million deal last week made him the highest-paid defensive tackle in NFL history, while Davis signed a three-year, $78 million extension in March. Ojomo, entering the final season of his rookie contract, is the next young lineman left to wonder where he fits in.
He’s trying not to get pulled into that spiral.
“I think that when you get into those thoughts, it can be a rabbit hole,” Ojomo said after Monday’s training camp practice. “I rather steer clean from them.
At the end of the day, we got a football season to play. I’ve got an agent and he’s hired for a reason.
He needs to do his job and I’ll do my job, and we’ll see what happens.”
That’s the cleanest read on Ojomo’s situation right now: play football, let the business side handle itself, and keep moving. A new deal doesn’t appear close. In fact, it’s getting harder to see how the Eagles keep everybody, especially with cornerbacks Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell also needing money down the line and other young defenders waiting in the pipeline.
Vic Fangio said last week that general manager Howie Roseman needs to save money for Ojomo, but that sounded more like hope than a plan. Philadelphia simply doesn’t have enough cap space to keep every young defensive piece, and Ojomo looks like one of the players who could get squeezed out to make room for DeJean, Mitchell and maybe others such as Jalyx Hunt.
Ojomo was blunt when asked whether there had been contract talks.
“If there was an agreement right now, there would be an agreement obviously,” Ojomo said. “Everyone would know. So obviously there is no agreement as of now."
For now, he’s leaning on the people around him - and on his own production. Ojomo pointed to Jeff Simmons, the Titans All-Pro defensive tackle, as one of the players tied to his agency, and said that gives him confidence his representation can handle the job.
“[Titans All-Pro defensive tackle] Jeff Simmons is with the agency,” Ojomo said. “We have a lot of big, talented players, so I really do believe that [my agent] can do his job at a high level, and I know if I’m trying to do his job for him, I’m going to become a worse player.”
The on-field part is where Ojomo wants the attention anyway. He finished last season with six sacks and six tackles for loss, and he’s aiming higher from there.
“I’m always trying to be the best,” Ojomo said. “That has always been my mentality, right?
We got an extremely loaded room. Those guys know I compete, and those guys know I’m not backing down from anything, right?
“So the goal and aim is to be the best defensive tackle, right? That’s my mindset.
I want to make more plays, I want to get more sacks, I want to make more TFLs, and I want to be the best in the room and the best in the league. Ultimately, I think if we all have that mindset, we’ll bring the best out of each other.”
Ojomo has already outperformed the expectations that came with being a seventh-round pick in 2023, and he still believes there’s more coming. Whether that happens in Philadelphia or somewhere else is the part he can’t control. What he can control is the kind of season that makes him harder to ignore.
“Damn more motivated than I’ve ever been,” Ojomo said. “To your question of seeing both of my defensive tackles get paid, that motivates me more.
I’ve always been a hungry guy. I’ve always had the chip on my shoulder, right?
To see both of those guys succeed at a high level, I just want to succeed more.”
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