Eagles Pickup Jordan Davis 5th Year Option

The Eagles took Jordan Davis 13th overall back in 2022, hoping he would become a dominant DT. That hasn’t happened. Davis is a good run defender, but hasn’t developed into the level of overall player the team hoped. Because of that, there was some question as to whether the Eagles would pick up his fifth year option.

The Eagles are exercising Jordan Davis’ 5th-year option, according to a league source. (@Schultz_Report reported it first this morning.)

Davis, 25, is now under contract through 2026. The fifth-year option is for $12.9M.

— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) April 30, 2025

There is an argument for and against the move. We’ll start with the argument against it. To this point, Davis hasn’t played to a level worth that money. He’s been a part time player. Part of that is conditioning and part is his lack of impact in the passing game. In 47 career regular season games, Davis has played 1,131 snaps. Last year Jalen Carter played in 16 games and was on the field for 831 snaps. That is a drastic difference.

The argument for Davis is that the option is for 2026. He could be a different player by then. Some big guys start slow and then get better. Davis turned 25 in January so he’s just now hitting his prime.

Davis isn’t a bad player. He is a good run defender.

One guy who stood out on film in the #Eagles win was DT Jordan Davis

Played an important role in keeping Derrick Henry contained throughout the afternoon, and he did it in a number of ways for Vic Fangio’s front pic.twitter.com/NAdTCks4Br

— Fran Duffy (@FDuffyNFL) December 3, 2024

Davis has shown the ability to affect the QB. You see some good flashes from him.

This Jordan Davis sack in the NFCCG was quite impressive. He got another in the Super Bowl. #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/EjRQFuqw51

— O.J. Spivey (@OJPhilly) April 30, 2025

We need to see more. Those flashes tell you the ability is there. Davis must offer more impact on a consistent basis. He needs to be in better shape so he can stay on the field. The other thing to consider is that the salary cap will go up for 2026 so that salary won’t look as bad at that point.

Howie Roseman believes in Jordan Davis. I’m sure part of that is Howie wanting his draft pick to pan out as expected. Howie was confident in Nakobe Dean coming into 2024 and that worked out well. There are no guarantees things will work out the same for Davis. Dean was slowed by injuries. Davis has been healthy.

There is value in keeping Davis around because he’s one of the many Bulldogs on the team. That group is tight-knit. Davis isn’t worth $12.9M because of that, but it does help the argument for him.

If Davis gets better over the next two years, Howie will look smart for keeping a good DL around. If Davis is the same guy, Howie will get a lot of questions about why he’s paying a role player so much money.

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The Eagles are also taking a chance on an undrafted rookie DL.

Glad Kaimon Rucker is getting his shot at minicamp with the #Eagles. Was banged up last year but a very productive pass rusher when healthy. 14.5 sacks in the last two seasons over 21 games. Turned the corner consistently at North Carolina. https://t.co/XG5bIIlBdM pic.twitter.com/r1UyMcHPpZ

— Devin Jackson (@RealD_Jackson) April 30, 2025

Rucker is 6-1, 255. He had 38.5 TFLs and 22 sacks in his career at UNC. This guy flies off the ball, bends well and knows how to finish. Shocks me that no one signed him as a UDFA. The Eagles are giving him a tryout at camp this weekend.

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