The Eagles just handed Jalen Carter a monster extension, and that deal may have done more than reward one of the NFL’s best young defensive tackles. It may have quietly reset the market for Byron Murphy II, too.
Philadelphia locked Carter up on a contract that can reach $160 million over four years, with $106 million guaranteed, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. That makes Carter the highest-paid defensive tackle in league history, at least for now. For Seattle, that number is going to matter the next time Murphy’s camp starts talking extension.
Murphy has every reason to pay attention. He’s a player on the rise, and his second season in 2025 was stronger than his rookie year the season before. In fact, he was better than Carter in 2025 in almost every meaningful way.
Carter did miss six games last season because of a shoulder issue, but even on a per-game basis Murphy had the edge in some key areas. Carter averaged fewer sacks per game (.27) than Murphy (.41), and Pro Football Focus graded Carter 112th out of 134 interior defensive linemen in run defense.
He also has a tackling problem, missing at least 15.4 percent of his attempts in each of the last two years. Murphy, by comparison, has missed just two tackles total across his two-year career.
None of that turns Carter into a bad player. He’s still very good. But the Eagles’ decision to pay him at the top of the market gives Seattle a new reference point, and Murphy’s agency probably noticed immediately.
That’s the real ripple effect here: Carter’s deal doesn’t just reward him, it gives Murphy’s side a starting number to work from. And if Murphy keeps trending the way he has, the Seahawks are going to have a tough time arguing against paying him like a premium player.
Seattle already has plenty of young talent on the books or headed that way, including wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who got four years and as much as $168.6 million, and Devon Witherspoon, who is expected to be next. If Murphy gets his extension in Seattle, it may land closer to JSN money than Witherspoon’s.
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The intrigue is in how those pieces sort themselves out once the competition starts in earnest. Clarks arrival gives the Seahawks another young defensive back to evaluate against the current holdovers, while Igbinoghenes fit in the secondary and Fowlers role up front could both reshape where the snaps go when the defense gets into its more obvious passing looks. [Read more 🡒]
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Still, the most interesting part of camp may be how many jobs are genuinely up for grabs as Seattle tries to sort out its depth before Week 1. The secondary is being pushed by young players trying to carve out roles, and the Seahawks are also keeping a close eye on the health of key pieces elsewhere on the roster. If the early optimism holds, the camp could end up being remembered less for any single headline and more for how it quietly clarified where this team feels strong, where it is still searching, and where the next few weeks could change the picture again. [Read more 🡒]