The Philadelphia Eagles were willing to deliver edge rusher Jaelan Phillips a truckload of cash in free agency.
The Carolina Panthers came up with 2 truckloads of cash — roughly equivalent to a 4-year, $120 million contract — and Phillips waved goodbye to Philly and set up shop in Charlotte.
Now, with training camp just over the horizon, Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon singled out Carolina’s deal for Phillips as the “NFL’s Worst Contract” for the 2026 offseason.
Phillips’ contract included $80 million in guaranteed money.
“Injuries cost (Phillips) the vast majority of 2023 and 2024 with the Dolphins before they moved on, and he managed just two sacks in eight games as an Eagles rental in 2025,” Gagnon wrote. “Given he has yet to earn a first- or second-team All-Pro nod or a Pro Bowl selection in five NFL seasons, it’s surprising he’s one of just 13 defensive players in the $30 million AAV club. Phillips is slated to cost the Panthers $38.8 million as a 30-year-old in 2029, unless the team dumps him before then. In that case, they’d have paid him $90 million over three presumably disappointing campaigns. “
Phillips Under Big-Time Pressure With Panthers
According to The Athletic’s Joseph Person, Phillips’ deal comes with the expectation he will lift a defense that squeaked into the playoffs last season to 1 that dominates the up-for-grabs NFC South Division in 2026.
“The Panthers made Phillips the highest-paid player in franchise history with a four-year, $120 million contract, a high price for a player who hasn’t notched more than seven sacks since his rookie season,” Person wrote. “(General Manager) Dan Morgan and (head coach) Dave Canales are betting that Phillips’ pressure rate will result in more production for everyone after the Panthers tied for 30th in 2025 with 30 sacks.”
That’s a big bet — and 1 that history tells us won’t likely pay off.
Jaelan Phillips Called ‘Worst’ Free-Agent Signing
Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport called out Phillips’ massive new deal as the NFL’s “Worst Free Agent Signing” in the 2026 cycle.
Phillips spent just a half-season with the Eagles after they traded a 2026 3rd-round pick to the Miami Dolphins at the 2025 NFL trade deadline for the 6-foot-5, 266-pound former 1st-round pick.
“Of the five biggest contracts given out in free agency this year, three went to edge-rushers, with Jaelan Phillips getting the biggest of the lot when the Carolina Panthers gave the 26-year-old a four-year, $120 million contract,” Davenport wrote. “Thirty million a season is a lot to give a player whose career high in sacks (8.5) came as a rookie with the Miami Dolphins in 2021. But the fact that only New York Giants edge-rusher Abdul Carter had fewer sacks last year with more than 50-plus pressures isn’t the only issue with Phillips. His pass-rush win rate last year with the Philadelphia Eagles was under 10 percent, and he has a lengthy injury history—he ruptured his Achilles tendon in 2023 and tore his ACL the following year.”
The Eagles moved quickly to replace Phillips. One month later, they traded for Pro Bowl Minnesota Vikings edge rusher Jonathan Greenard and signed him to a 4-year, $98 million contract — cash likely originally earmarked to pay Phillips.
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Former Eagles Edge Rusher Singled Out for ‘NFL’s Worst Contract’ appeared first on HEAVY.