The Eagles are getting phone calls about defensive tackle Jalen Carter from teams inquiring if he’s available for trade, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. This is not an indication that the Eagles are trying to trade Carter, but if Fowler is reporting that they’ve had multiple teams call with the expectation of having a chance, that would imply that they have a chance:
With defensive tackle Jordan Davis now extended, Philly also must weigh whether to extend Jalen Carter, who is eligible for a new
deal. I’m told Philly has received trade calls on Carter.
If the Eagles would trade Carter, he must be a real problem. Teams do not tend to part with elite players, which Carter certainly qualifies as when he plays, so trading him before his 25th birthday would be a major red flag.
The almost-25 year old defensive tackle was the ninth overall pick in the 2023 draft, which seems exceptionally high if not for so many analysts believing that Carter was the best prospect in the class and worthy of at least a top-3 pick. But teams worried about Carter’s reportedly bad practice habits in addition to his connection to a car accident — Carter wasn’t the driver of that vehicle— that killed a Georgia teammate and another person.
Carter is still embroiled in a $5 million civil lawsuit by one of the surviving passengers alleging that he was partly responsible for the accident.
The fact that this night would still be hanging over him three years later could weigh on Philadelphia’s decision to trade or extend Carter. It was just this past season that Carter was ejected from a game before the first snap for spitting at Dak Prescott.
Two of the teams rumored to have made the call are inside the NFC West:
The Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers.
A mature Jalen Carter would be a huge addition for one of the Rams’ division rivals. He finished second in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting in 2023, was a second-team All-Pro in 2024, and made his second consecutive Pro Bowl in 2025. Carter has batted down 13 passes in the past two seasons despite not playing in isx games last year.
That’s a lot of deflections for a defensive tackle.
The sack numbers and tackle for a loss totals are good for a defensive tackle (career 13.5 sacks, 25 TFL) but not necessarily the type of numbers he was projected for as a “generational” defensive tackle prospect. I mean, 13.5 sacks was a good year for Aaron Donald. Carter obviously isn’t Donald and in more ways than one.
The Rams being involved in a Carter trade would and wouldn’t be surprising.
L.A. has never been afraid to make a pitch for the top players available and they still have ammunition even after trading for Trent McDuffie. The Rams would probably want to offer up a defensive tackle in return like Kobie Turner (also due a raise) or Braden Fiske, in addition to draft picks.
But do they want the issues that come with Carter? Marcus Peters isn’t a perfect comparison here, but just in terms of talented-but-unreliable stars, Peters lasted just 22 games with the Rams before the team had enough.
What is clear is that if the Eagles trade Jalen Carter, that in itself is a sign of trouble. He’s so good that in age of the salary cap being relatively meaningless—or even if it isn’t, Philadelphia prioritized Jordan Davis over him—there’s absolutely no reason to give up on a younger star over money.
It would have to be that they gave up on him over something far more worrisome than a pay day.
