Philly Front Office

A few months back I wrote how the future mega extension for Jalen Carter will be directly affected by Ja’Marr Chase and Micah Parsons. So far that is holding true with the 4/$161m extension just signed by Chase. Micah Parsons will beat that amount even if Jerry Jones doesn’t want him to. Parsons is that good and that’s the way the market works.

Speaking of which, Derek Stingley just signed a cornerback market setting extension for 3/$90m. This blew away the previous AAV record set just last week by Jaycee Horn. His 4/$100m contract was worth $25m AAV and designed to just top Patrick Surtain who signed a few days earlier at 4/$96m. Both topped the 3/$73m extension Jalen Ramsey signed with the Dolphins the year before that. See what happens here? Rising tides lift all boats.

Why do we care? Have you been wondering why the Eagles haven’t been signing any free agents?

Jalen Carter

Either Carter or Parsons are still destined to be the first $200m non-QB. With Myles Garrett breaking the $40m AAV barrier and Chase topping him at $40.25m, this is the new standard for elite receivers and defensive linemen. Parsons and Carter are that. Aiden Hutchinson would have been included in this group if not for his horrible injury this year. A record-setting extension is still possible for him, but it would be a stretch this offseason. He probably wants to wait a year to rejoin the extension discussion, because $40m is where the discussion begins now.

Parsons SHOULD get extended this offseason, but you never know with Jerry Jones. He loves stretching these things out as long as possible to get the worst possible deal. He will pay Parsons eventually though. His new number has to be $41m at least. Will it be 4/$164m or 5/$205m? If he signs this summer, this is what Jalen Carter’s agent gives to Howie Roseman and the parties quickly sign a deal for around 5/$210m. Everybody is happy.

Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean

No, it is not too early to be thinking about new contracts for these two. They are not even eligible for extensions for two more years, but they are the reasons Howie is shedding salary right now. Are either of them as good as Stingley or Patrick Surtain are right now? Maybe, but not definitively. That also doesn’t matter.

There is still a lot that can happen in the next two years. We have no idea if what our two CBs did this season can be duplicated or improved, but it is certainly on the table. ProFootballFocus had them ranked as elite CBs this year right up there with Stingley and Surtain (and way better than Horn), but the eye test told you all you needed to know. They are ascending talents. Even if they are not considered the best of the best at extension time, they are going to be shooting for that Stingley mark.

But wait, will that even be the mark in two years? Sauce Gardner and Trent McDuffie might have something to say about that. Both have two All-Pro teams to Stingley’s one. They are in line for extensions right now and most definitely are aware of what Stingley just received. Houston looks to be pulling a Philadelphia and getting ahead of the curve. Granted, they just paid a premium to do it by torching the previous record by $5m per year, but by beating the Jets and Chiefs they probably saved money. Whoever signs last of this trio will become the new record setter.

And that’s only this year’s extensions! Next year Christian Gonzalez and Devon Witherspoon are going to be looking to steal that crown as soon as possible. The CB game is a volatile one and players can lose a step or get injured at any point, but these two should end up close to $35m AAV if all goes right.

So, where does that leave our duo? In a perfect world, they take a discount to stay with the Eagles together at the same price after continuing their elite play. There are a lot of variables there though. The Chiefs recently had L’Jarius Sneed paired with McDuffie but decided to move on rather than pay him. Only time will tell if the Eagles make this same choice.

Nolan Smith

Smith went from playing in the no man’s land of a final preseason game to being a driving force of a Super Bowl dominating defense. He always had the talent, but things didn’t click for him until the second half of the season. He will be up for an extension along with Carter next year. What do we make of Smith? He has two paths from here…

If Smith has solid production in line with a prorated version of this season, something like 10-14 sacks, he is going to get some healthy money. This puts him in line with someone like Brian Burns of the Giants. Burns was overpaid, but he also had two straight Pro Bowls and a 12.5 sack season under his belt. His 5/$141m contract seems insane, but it does exist and will not be ignored. In fact, Josh Hines-Allen used it to negotiate an extension of his own, just beating the total by $250,000. Allen had a breakout 17.5 sack season that year though, albeit after years of mediocre production. Smith will be shooting for this range with a solid season.

But what happens if Smith REALLY breaks out? Something like Hines-Allen’s 17.5 sacks and an All-Pro team? Well wouldn’t that put him in line with what Hines-Allen got? Am I over-shooting? Here is the big difference between Smith and the other two…Smith is younger. He is a full year younger than both when they signed their deals. Plus, two years will have passed since their extensions. Essentially, the Eagles will be paying a premium for that 3-year difference. The level up past Burns and Hines-Allen is Joey Bosa and Maxx Crosby. Now both those guys are DPOY caliber players and All-Pros making $34m+ per year. I am not saying that is something guaranteed for Smith, but it is certainly possible after what we just witnessed. He only just turned 24 and found his stride. We honestly don’t know how good he can become.

An interesting competition to watch this year will be Smith versus Will Anderson of the Texans. Anderson seems like the better player so far, but if Smith can ascend to his level, then the Eagles will surely be looking to beat Houston to the bargaining table for the star pass rushers.