The Philadelphia Eagles saw several players skip town this offseason. Of the bunch, though, Jaelan Phillips was one of the biggest names to leave, inking a four-year, $120 million deal from the Carolina Panthers, which included $80 million guaranteed.
While the Eagles wanted to keep him around, the price was just too high for them to match. Philadelphia added Phillips before the trade deadline, and he gave them a spark off the edge. Yet, when the 2026 season rolls around, he'll see that things aren't better for him, beyond his paycheck, in Carolina.
Jaelan Phillips Will Find Out Life Isn’t Better After Leaving Eagles
Going into next season, Phillips will be the 8th-highest-paid edge rusher, making $30 million. The Panthers paid him to be one of the best pass rushers in the league, but there's no telling if he'll be able to meet those expectations. This is especially true since he'll be more of a focal point for the opposition than he ever was in Philadelphia.
The Panthers' best defensive pieces are Derrick Brown, Jaycee Horn, and new LB Devin Lloyd. While Brown is a top defensive tackle, he doesn't provide the same pass-rush juice that Jalen Carter does. In Brown's career, he has 13 sacks across six seasons. Meanwhile, Carter has 13.5 sacks in three campaigns.
Carolina also has high hopes that Princely Umanmielen and Nic Scourton can see an uptick in productivity in their sophomore seasons, but those two guys combined for 6.5 sacks in 2025. And while Horn is a great corner, the rest of that room has some legitimate question marks. As for the Eagles, they have two All-Pros in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in the secondary, who forced quarterbacks to hold the ball longer. That has a positive ripple effect on the pass rush, giving them more time to get home.
Even though Phillips played in eight games for the Eagles, he consistently caused havoc in the backfield, recording 44 pressures, 35 QB hurries, and two sacks. Of course, you would like those sack numbers to be higher, but there's no discounting the impact he had.
The Eagles had a price point that they didn't want to go over, and that's for the better. Carolina paid him to be one of the best pass rushers in the league, but that's more of a projection. Phillips has 28 sacks in his five-year career, yet he's never gone over 8.5 sacks in a season. The Panthers are banking on potential, and Carolina is doing so in a very expensive manner.
The Eagles' defense has more talent on all three levels, which is something Phillips will need to overcome in Carolina to justify the contract that he received. But there has to be some doubt that he'll be able to answer the call, especially with the talent around him on the Panthers.