All Locked Up:
Every Eagle Is Signed

PHILADELPHIA — Cross one item off Howie Roseman's summer to-do list. With training camp still a month away, the Eagles have every member of their 2026 draft class signed, sealed and ready to report — and that's the kind of quiet, no-drama offseason housekeeping that tends to make Eagles fans nervous only when it's missing.

The final piece fell into place when third-round offensive tackle Markel Bell, the 68th overall pick out of Miami, put his name on a four-year rookie deal reportedly worth about $7.36 million. Bell was the last unsigned rookie on the roster, and getting him under contract means all of Philadelphia's picks are locked up well before the pads come on in late July. NFL insider Tom Pelissero first reported the agreement.

For most teams, signing the draft class is a formality. Third-round picks in particular rarely become contract holdouts. But after watching enough Eagles offseasons turn into edge-of-the-seat affairs over the years, there's something to be said for a front office that simply takes care of business. Bell adds depth to an offensive line that has been the backbone of this team's identity, and the Birds now head into camp with their rookies free to focus on football instead of paperwork.

The bigger storyline hanging over the NovaCare Complex this summer doesn't involve a rookie at all. It involves one of the most disruptive young defensive tackles in football — Jalen Carter.

Carter has been everything the Eagles hoped for when they traded up to grab him ninth overall back in 2023, earning Pro Bowl recognition twice in his first three seasons and anchoring the interior of Philadelphia's defensive front. Now he's approaching the point where a long-term extension comes into the conversation, and the numbers being floated are eye-watering. A deal in the range of $35 to $38 million per year would put Carter among the highest-paid interior defenders in the league.

That price tag is exactly why his name keeps surfacing in trade-candidate chatter around the league. To be clear, there is no deal on the table and no indication the Eagles are actively shopping him — this is speculation, the kind that fills the airwaves in the dead weeks before camp. But it's the question worth watching: does Roseman pay premium money to keep a cornerstone, or does he weigh Carter's value against the rest of a roster he's always managing with an eye on the salary cap?

South Jersey has seen this movie before with this front office. Roseman has never been shy about making the hard call when the math stops working, and he's also never been afraid to pay the players he believes are worth it. Which way he leans on Carter may end up being the defining decision of the Eagles' offseason.

For now, though, the rookies are signed, the roster is set, and the countdown to camp is on. The hard questions can wait until the players are back in Philadelphia — but not much longer.

Based on reporting from NBC Sports Philadelphia, PhiladelphiaEagles.com, Yardbarker and Inside the Iggles. The Neighborhood Gazette covers South Jersey at neighborhoodgazette.town.