One of the biggest surprises of NFL free agency has been the Carolina Panthers not being afraid to whip out their wallet and spend some big bucks, landing a handful of the top-tier players, such as pass rusher Jaelan Phillips, whom they inked to a four-year, $120M deal.
Phillips had a nice bounce-back season in 2025, combining for five sacks between his time with the Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles. The sack total is a little deceiving because he generated 73 pressures, 57 hurries, and 11 QB hits. If he can, as he says, “turn that disruption into production,” he’ll be widely considered as one of the top pass rushers the NFL has to offer.
So what exactly made Carolina such an attractive situation? He explained to reporters the reasoning why he signed with the Panthers over returning to Philadelphia.
Jan 11, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jaelan Phillips (50) looks on during warmups prior to an NFC Wild Card Round game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
“I have respect for them (the Eagles), and I don’t want to disclose what they were offering or anything like that, but they definitely did want me to come back. That’s something I knew after the season that they would be making a push, but ultimately, the Panthers just came with a more attractive offer. That just shows the belief they have in me and the belief they have in their team that we’re going to invest in to pieces that are going to take this team to the next level. It was kind of a no-brainer to come to the Panthers.”
For years, the Panthers had to pay what I like to call the “rebuild tax,” as in overpaying for free agents to come to the organization. Some may believe the Panthers overpaid for Phillips simply because of the sack total being what it was. It goes much deeper than that. If you look at the metrics, Phillips has one of the better pressure rates in the league. Giving Phillips $120M was not paying a “rebuild tax,” and instead, it was a pretty fair deal for a guy who could have returned to an established Super Bowl contender.
“I think what the team was able to accomplish last year was extremely impressive, and I think everybody kind of recognized the organization as a contender and a team that’s up and coming,” Phillips said. “I think Dan (Morgan) did an awesome job of who he signed, and I’m just excited to come in and contribute to what the team was already doing and the upward trajectory of what the organization was doing.”