Eagles sign DT Tim Jernigan to $48 million contract extension

Defensive tackle Tim Jernigan, whom the Eagles traded for in the offseason to replace Bennie Logan, signed a four-year, $48 million contract extension through 2021, the team announced Thursday.

More than half of the deal, $26 million, is guaranteed, according to a league source.

Jernigan, 25, was in the final year of the rookie contract he signed with the Baltimore Ravens and could have become an unrestricted free agent after the season. He has started all nine games for the Eagles this season, registering 1 1/2 sacks and eight tackles for losses.

He left Sunday's 51-23 win over the Broncos early with an ankle injury. But coach Doug Pederson said earlier this week that the injury isn't serious and Jernigan should be fine for the Eagles' next game, against the Cowboys on Nov. 19.

The Eagles got Jernigan in a trade with Baltimore three weeks before the NFL draft. The Eagles swapped their third-round pick, 74th overall, for a Ravens compensatory pick at the end of the same round, 99th overall.

Jernigan was a 2014 second-round pick, No. 48 overall, out of Florida State, where he played with Eagles linebacker Nigel Bradham. Joe Douglas, the Eagles' vice president for player personnel, was a Baltimore scout at the time.

Last season, the 6-foot-2, 295-pound tackle started 15 games, played 60 percent of the snaps, and had five sacks. In his three seasons in Baltimore, he started 24 games and had 13 career sacks, which would have ranked third on the Eagles.

But, he slumped the end of last season and apparently fell out of favor with the Ravens.

Before the trade, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said of Jernigan: "To me, Timmy is going to have the best year of his career, without question. I know how passionate he is, I know how much he wants to be great."

Jernigan has filled the void created by the departure of Logan, who became a free agent after starting 51 games in four seasons. The Eagles' salary-cap situation made it difficult for the team to retain Logan, who was reunited with former Eagles coach Andy Reid in Kansas City on a one-year deal.

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