Jaelan Phillips, one of the top edge rushers available in free agency, agreed to a four-year deal worth $120 million with the Carolina Panthers, sources told The Athletic’s Dianna Russini and Joe Person.
Phillips was ranked No. 2 in The Athletic’s top-150 free agents and was the second edge rusher behind Trey Hendrickson.
This is a major investment in Phillips, who turns 27 in May. He was a 2021 first-round pick by the Miami Dolphins, who traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles in November for a third-round pick. He demonstrated with the Eagles what had been apparent at times during the first four years of his career: Phillips is a do-it-all edge rusher with a rare combination of size (6-foot-5, 263 pounds) and athleticism, and he offers the type of versatile skill set that keeps him on the field no matter the situation. He can rush the quarterback, set the edge in the run game, and even drop into coverage.
Although he was not prolific with sacks last season (five in 17 games), he finished fourth in pressure rate among players with at least 250 pass-rush snaps. The Eagles’ defense reached another level after Phillips’ acquisition. His best season might have been 2023, when he had 6.5 sacks in eight games before injury cut the breakout season short.
The knock on Phillips has been his injury history. He had a brief medical retirement at UCLA before transferring to Miami for his final season. In the NFL, he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in 2023 and a torn ACL in 2024. He returned to play 17 games and a postseason game in 2025, quieting some of those concerns. This type of deal shows the confidence that he can continue what he showed with the Eagles last season.
How he fits
Dan Morgan signed three edge rushers — Jadeveon Clowney, D.J. Wonnum and Patrick Jones — his first two years as Carolina’s general manager but none received big deals and didn’t make substantial impacts. So Morgan was motivated to take a bigger swing this year to improve a defense that finished with the NFL’s second-lowest pass rush rate in 2025. Enter the 26-year-old Phillips, who’s five years younger than Trey Hendrickson and has had success in Vic Fangio’s defense. The Panthers run a similar scheme under Ejiro Evero, who’s worked together with Fangio and considers him one of his mentors.
2026 roster impact
With Wonnum entering free agency following two disappointing seasons in Charlotte, there was a clear opening for another outside linebacker opposite Nic Scourton, whose five sacks as a rookie tied for the team lead. Scourton was one of two edge rushers the Panthers took on the second day of the draft last year, with Princely Umanmielen getting time as a rotational rusher. Jones also will be back after missing most of last season following back surgery. But the group needed some juice, and Phillips — who has 28 sacks in five seasons — should supply it.
Phillips only totaled 5 sacks last season but was considered one of the top pass rushers in the league. (Eric Hartline / Imagn Images)
Cap update
Adding a contract with a $30 million annual average value means the Panthers will have some salary-cap work to do before the Wednesday’s 4 p.m. start to the league year. But that was always going to be the case for VP of football operations Brandt Tilis, who can restructure the contracts of Derrick Brown and Jaycee Horn to create significant space. The Panthers also are expected to move on from quarterback Andy Dalton and defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson, moves that will clear $12 million in cap space.
Joseph Person’s takeaway
In a January article hitting on the Panthers’ offseason priorities, I mentioned Phillips as a possible addition to boost a pass rush that Morgan said wasn’t “up to par” after a season in which their 30 sacks ranked 28th in the NFL. It just made too much sense. Morgan’s history in free agency is finding ascending players in their mid-20s, and the Panthers have brought in a number of defenders who have either played under Evero or have background in his scheme. It was a steep price to pay for a player whose career high in sacks didn’t reach double digits (8.5) and came as a rookie with Miami in 2021. Phillips’ production has been limited by two major injuries. If Phillips fails to take the next step in his career, this obviously will be a massive miss. But the sense is he’s the pass rusher Evero’s been waiting for the past few seasons, and will tailor the pass-rush stunts around Phillips’ strengths.
— The Athletic’s Dianna Russini contributed to this report.