By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor
The Eagles made a move for their future Saturday by locking down young left tackle Jordan Mailata for the next four seasons.
On the last year of his rookie deal, the former rugby player was able to land himself quite a few peanuts in the $64 million deal.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the deal could go up to $80 million with incentives.
Eagles’ OT Jordan Mailata is signing a four-year, $64 million extension that could be worth up to $80 million and includes $40.85 million guaranteed, per source.
His agents, Jeff Nalley and Graylan Crain, just confirmed the deal to ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 11, 2021
As always, its a risk to guarantee $40.85 million with the way injuries can occur in the NFL, but Mailata has shown a ton of promise after only three years of learning the sport and continues to improve each day.
Mailata beat out former first-round pick Andre Dillard as the starter at the left tackle position.
By signing him now, they lock in what they hope to be a steal as Mailata has the potential to be a perennial All-Pro, but a $64 million deal is only a $16 million average salary over the four years (though it’s certain that cap hits will rise over the course of the deal).
For comparison, Trent Williams, David Bakhtiari, Laremy Tunsil, Ronnie Stanley, Kolton Miller and Garett Bolles all have an AAV over that on their own deals. At right tackle, Ryan Ramczyk, Brian O’Neill, Lane Johnson, Braden Smith and Taylor Moton all have a higher average salary.
If Mailata can continue his improvement, this deal is a steal.