Eagles pick up 5th-year options for Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith

The Eagles are keeping the Philly Dawgs together.

As expected, Philadelphia picked up the fifth-year options for Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith, locking both 2023 first-round picks into team control through the 2027 season. Carter’s option is projected at $27.16 million. Smith’s comes in at $13.75 million.

Neither move is a surprise. Carter is already one of the most disruptive defensive tackles in football. Smith has grown into a real piece off the edge. And with the way Howie Roseman talks about roster building, this is exactly how the Eagles want to operate.

Draft well. Develop your guys. Keep the right ones.

Eagles Keep Building Around Their Young Defensive Core

We’ve exercised the 5th-year option for Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith through 2027. pic.twitter.com/OSsi1GuiBl

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) April 27, 2026

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This move comes after the Eagles already extended Jordan Davis before free agency. So the message is pretty clear.

The young defensive core is not getting broken up yet.

There was some offseason noise about teams calling on Carter, which was always funny. Sure, teams can call. They can also call about the Liberty Bell if they want. That does not mean the Eagles are moving a 24-year-old monster in the middle of their defense.

Carter still has another level to hit, which is the scary part. Coaches have mentioned his conditioning before, but they said the same thing about Davis earlier in his career. Once Davis took that step, the Eagles paid him like a cornerstone. Carter feels like he could be heading down the same road.

He had 33 tackles, 12 QB hits, seven passes defended, three sacks, a blocked extra point, and a second Pro Bowl nod in 2025. That is not exactly a guy you toss into trade rumors unless you enjoy wasting everyone’s time.

Smith’s option was an easy call too. The sack numbers do not tell the full story with him. He had 11 QB hits in 12 games last season, and his speed off the edge helped create opportunities for the rest of the front. With Jalyx Hunt and Jonathan Greenard also in the mix, Smith now has a chance to become one of the leaders of that edge room.

The Eagles have spent years trying to build a defense that can wreck games up front. This is how you do it. You do not just draft these guys, clap for yourself, then let them walk the second they become expensive.

You keep the ones worth keeping.

That is what the Eagles did here. Carter and Smith are staying in Philly, the defensive core is still intact, and Howie Roseman is once again showing that the plan has not changed.

Build through the trenches. Keep the Dawgs. Let everyone else deal with it.