Jordan Davis Is Here To Stay: Now What’s Next for the Eagles?

Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman will have plenty of difficult decisions to make this offseason. Yet his first decision was rather easy as the Eagles have reportedly signed Jordan Davis to a three-year, $78 million contract extension with $65 million guaranteed.

While many were quick to call Davis’ deal an overpay, the Eagles actually lumped in his fifth-year option into the deal. So in reality, it’s essentially a four-year, $90.9 million deal, which would rank 10th among interior defensive linemen in average annual value.

There are some that will still call this deal an overpay given Davis’ limited impact as a pass rusher. Yet I believe that his presence against the run that allows the Eagles to operate primarily in their nickel defense is nearly priceless.

Following Davis’ meteoric rise last season, it’s also fair to believe that he’s still an ascending player. Davis just turned 26-years old in January and will likely be a team captain in 2026. Now that the Eagles have secured one of their foundational building blocks on defense, what could be next?

What’s Next for the Eagles?

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman will likely remain busy as the start of free agency is quickly approaching. According to Over The Cap, the Eagles had roughly $12.5 million in cap space prior to signing Davis to a contract extension. Philadelphia likely created roughly between $5 million to $9 million in cap space with the new deal.

For the sake of this exercise, we’ll remain on the cautious side and go with $5 million. That brings the Eagles up to $17.5 million in cap space. One of Philadelphia’s next moves before the new league year will be to release veteran cornerback Michael Carter II. That move will save an additional $8.7 million, which brings the Eagles up to roughly $26.2 million in cap space.

The next priority for Roseman will likely be to sign Jaelan Phillips to a contract extension before he hits the open market. The Eagles did the same thing with Zack Baun when they re-signed him before free agency in 2025. Philadelphia has likely identified Phillips as a core piece of Vic Fangio’s defense and want to keep him around long-term.

In a recent article, I projected that the Eagles will re-sign Phillips to a four-year, $102 million contract extension. I’m standing by those numbers and believe that it could be enough to prevent Phillips from testing the market. While some may view it as an overpay given his injury history and lack of sack production, the Eagles likely view Phillips in a similar lens as they did with Davis.

Phillips’ impact extends beyond the box score, as he creates pass rush lanes for other players and remains stout against the run. While his injury history is certainly a concern, the Eagles should have as good of a grasp on his medical history and future as any other team in the NFL.

The other major domino that seemingly the entire league is waiting to drop is a potential A.J. Brown trade. While it would benefit the Eagles to trade Brown after June 1st, they would lose out on any draft compensation in the 2026 NFL Draft and risk the chance of potential suitors finding options elsewhere.

For example, the New England Patriots are viewed as the top trade partner for Brown. Yet if the Patriots sign free agent wide receiver Alec Pierce to a massive contract, they would likely be out of the running for Brown. Therefore, there appears to be somewhat of a time crunch on this entire trade situation.

It would also benefit the Eagles to know what’s going on with Brown, given that they would take on a massive dead cap hit in 2026 if they trade him before June 1st. Philadelphia has been willing to eat a ton of dead money when trading players in the past, yet Roseman will still need to plan accordingly.

The Eagles would take on an additional $20 million in dead money in 2026, if they trade Brown before June 1st. Based on our earlier calculations, that would bring Philadelphia down to just $6.2 million in cap space to work with. There would be a ton of hoops for Roseman to jump through to make it all work.

If the trade compensation is worth it, Roseman will figure it all out. But Brown’s future seems to be what could be holding up Philadelphia’s plans this offseason. While Eagles fans are tired of the trade rumors, it’s a situation that will have to be settled (one way or another) before Roseman can move forward in 2026.