Jalen Carter is three seasons into his NFL career with two Pro Bowls under his belt. His extension talks started months ago, but nothing’s signed yet. The Philadelphia Eagles have gone silent, and in this uncertainty, there’s a question Philly hasn’t been able to shake off: Do they not want to pay him?

NFL insider Albert Breer answered that question in his latest mailbag and dropped a short, “Yes, they are hesitant to pay him,” before diving deeper into the matter.

“Philadelphia is telling you what you need to know with its actions,” Breer wrote. “The Eagles have always been aggressive in paying their own, in large part because they know that the earlier you do the deal, the better the price you’ll get. It’s a strategy that takes commitment from ownership, which Philly clearly has (some owners would rather keep money in their accounts until the summer), and has served the team very well over the years.

“So the fact that we’re into June without Jalen Carter having a deal is notable,” Breer continued. “And I’d guess if they do one now, before his fourth season as a pro, then it’d come with flexibility for the team. If Carter won’t give them that flexibility now, maybe he’ll just wait another year. Which would make this a little like the George Pickens situation in Dallas–where a team might want to see a little more from a player, just from a character perspective, before committing long term.”

The Dallas Cowboys brought in George Pickens from the Pittsburgh Steelers last season in exchange for a 2026 third-rounder and a 2027 fifth-rounder. Attitude concerns and off-field antics follow Pickens from the Steel City, but he flipped it all by mounting a career-best season that saw him lead Dallas with 1,429 receiving yards. Everybody thought a massive contract extension was all but guaranteed, but the Cowboys slapped a $27.3 million non-exclusive franchise tag on Pickens – a one-year prove-it-again deal.

Now, Carter’s performance is solid. He played 639 defensive snaps last season and 62 on special teams. Through all of that, he logged 3.0 sacks, 33 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 12 quarterback hits, and seven passes defended. His numbers didn’t flicker, but the real problem was money.

Carter’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, wants to reset the market with his extension. Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay projected a $99 million, three-year deal in store for Carter, and Spotrac projects a four-year, $107 million deal that gives him $26.9 million a year. That’s a massive investment for any team, regardless of the upside.

This season, Carter carries a $6.9 million cap hit for Philly, and the team has also exercised the fifth-year option on his contract in April, giving him $27.1 million guaranteed in 2027. But per SI’s John McMullen, “the Eagles remain concerned about lingering maturity issues and health questions.”

Last year, in the season opener against the Cowboys, he got ejected for spitting on their quarterback, Dak Prescott. Beyond that, an unspecified shoulder issue made him miss a significant portion of training camp, and the issue showed up again in Week 4 when he aggravated his shoulder against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He didn’t miss any time because of it, but the health concerns still linger.

Moreover, Carter has already missed the voluntary workouts this offseason. While he did show up at the mandatory minicamp, he didn’t engage with the team drills.

In case negotiations go south in the future, ESPN’s Aaron Schatz has suggested extending Ojomo instead of Carter. And if the Eagles really aren’t buying into Carter’s upside, some analysts have suggested the Green Bay Packers as a possible destination.

One thing is clear: the Eagles know paying Carter is a risk. They’re being cautious, and Carter doesn’t have a lot of leverage at this point. Betting on himself with a training camp hold-in could derail the relationship completely, but all he can do is play the waiting game right now if Philly isn’t listening.