The Eagles will have to look at their pending free agents, but in order to make things more efficient in future years (and ideally to keep more talent in-house longer for lower cap hits), the team will also need to evaluate extensions.

And while any veteran player is technically eligible for an extension, the key to keeping a team together is drafting young talent and then being able to re-sign that talent before they wind up re-setting a market or wind up getting paid top dollar by other teams.

That’s where the Eagles extension discussions come in for the young players.

There are two players that the team will need to first decide on the fifth-year options on (more on that here), but both of those players will become officially eligible for extensions this offseason.

Jalen Carter has seemed like a shoe-in for a longer-term extension – it just depends on what that number will be. Almost certainly, it seems destined to be a trend-setting number, so getting it on the books before another player in a similar boat (like Bryan Bresee) or other extension candidates like Zach Allen or Jeffery Simmons sign would be huge for the future outlook of that contract.

Nolan Smith‘s future seems a bit more up in the air, with one strong season but then his taking a large step back in 2025. How key do the Eagles believe he will be in the future? Could they look to sign him to what appears to be an over-pay now but in a year or two suddenly seems like one of the best bargains for a productive DE outside of rookie deals?

Finally, the other first-rounder is Jordan Davis. He certainly seems like a key to the Eagles future and appears to be improving with time in addition to being a clubhouse leader and positive influence. He’s in a role where he doesn’t get the gaudy numbers, however.

It seems inevitable that the Eagles will look to engage Davis’ camp in long-term extension talks, but that situation might come down to what each side thinks Davis could get on the open market and the Eagles front office might not want to commit too much money to one position given their need to work with Carter on an extension at the some spot.

The next biggest player may be Moro Ojomo. Ojomo may wind up being the biggest deal to extend, with him being the one player who did step up this year to increase his totals to career-highs with six sacks and 38 tackles.

Ojomo is not a “big name” so it’d be interesting what his camp might think he could get on the open market, but it again goes back to the Eagles long-term plans as Ojomo is already the third defensive tackle on this list.

That said, he may be the one that the Eagles could start with – someone who they may be able to lock up to a longer-term deal that looks like a steal later on whereas Carter is almost certainly looking to get record-breaking money. Ojomo could wind up signing a deal that looks reasonable for a third or fourth DT, but could continue to develop into the level of a clear starter.

Frankly, if the Eagles want to make some progress early on the signings, Ojomo may be someone to look at earlier since that may be an easier deal to reach right now.

Perhaps the most important decision they have to make on the offensive side of the ball will be Tyler Steen. 

Steen has appeared in 45 games but started only 20. He got his first full season as a starter under his belt this past season. What will make it difficult is that he didn’t stand out.

Steen appeared a bit better in pass blocking but a step back from Becton’s run blocking – and the Eagles allowed Becton to walk in free agency for the draft pick. If the thought is that Steen is an average starter, would they look to extend a player at a similar level? Or do they think he could still develop further.

Like every NFL contract, the money has to be right but it’s fair to wonder if Steen’s camp thinks he could cash in on free agency or if the Eagles think they could just sign another starter in the league at a lower cost without much drop-off. Of course, the team does like to have controllable depth on the lines.

The only other young offensive player drafted by the Eagles coming eligible for an extension is Tanner McKee.

That one seems like a tough sell. The Eagles do value the backup QB, but they want it to be cost controlled given Hurts’ contract.

McKee could also garner trade interest from other teams around the league looking to give him a shot after he’s impressed in his short stints several times over his three years in Philadelphia.

QBs, even backups, tend to make quite a bit comparatively, so an extension might be hard to get done. The team could also just look to the draft, where they acquired McKee in the sixth round, or acquire another cost-controlled backup on their rookie deal if they want to try and convert McKee into more draft capital.

The final offensive player coming eligible for the Eagles is Tank Bigsby, who they acquired from the Jaguars.

The team could look to extend the young running back, but it’s a position that the Eagles and many other teams around the league have not looked to invest in long-term due to injury risks.

Bigsby was an impressive runner this past season, so it wouldn’t be a total shock for the Eagles to look at an extension – but with Barkley’s contract it likely wouldn’t carry a high annual value if it were to get done.

The other two young defenders that could be eligible are Sydney Brown and Kelee Ringo.

Ringo has played enough that he’s unlikely to get any chance to start on defense (at least not on a contending team) elsewhere. Whether or not he thinks he can work his way into a starting defensive role may be the key for Ringo.

Ringo might be a worthwhile extension candidate for the Eagles as far as depth and special teams, but it’d be a pretty low deal and might not be worth the Eagles taking the risk of injury versus extending him at his free agency date.

Similarly, Brown might seek a starting role elsewhere, but it seems fairly clear that won’t happen in Philadelphia after he was benched for players elevated off the practice squad this past season.

He, too, could be a good special teamer, but has continued to make bone-headed moved repeatedly throughout his three seasons in addition to a fairly extensive injury history that works against him, making an extension seem unlikely this offseason.