Carson Wentz said he believes his $128 million contract extension is a “win-win” for both him and the Philadelphia Eagles.
The four-year extension that the team announced Thursday lasts through the 2024 season and includes $107.9 million guaranteed, including $66 million due at signing, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
“It’s something both sides wanted to get done. I knew I wanted this to be home for a long time and ever since being drafted it’s felt like home,” the quarterback said at a news conference on Monday. “So as soon as we found something that was a win-win, a really fair opportunity, I jumped at it, just because I love this place and I want to be here for a while, so I felt it was a good time.”
Wentz’s extension came after the Seattle Seahawks gave Russell Wilson a four-year, $140 million extension with $107 million in guarantees in April.
And while the going market value for a starting quarterback is likely to rise between now and 2024, Wentz said his level of comfort in Philadelphia eased any concerns about signing a long-term deal.
“You can play the ‘what-if game’ a million different ways — and I don’t get too caught up in that — we talked through it, we talked through it, wanted to reach something that was fair both for me and my family, but also for this team, this organization for the future, and I don’t think I’ll have any regrets.”
Wentz said he could see himself living in Philadelphia for a decade or more after his first meeting with the team ahead of the 2016 draft, when the Eagles moved up to select him with the second overall pick.
“From the moment they traded up for me they saw something special in me, and that means a lot,” Wentz said. “And at the same time, I saw something special in this place. I could see the chemistry, the culture, the makeup from the moment I came here on my visit before the draft even. I knew there was something different here, something special.”
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said Wentz had been “incredibly impressive” since before the draft.
“Every moment he’s been with us in the Eagles he’s just reinforced everything we expected and much more from those (pre-draft) days, whether it’s leadership, poise, the desire to be really, really good, if not great,” Lurie said. “Attention to detail, smart, the face of the franchise in so many ways … it’s how you draw it up. Our goals are to win really big and to do that at its best you need a quarterback that wants it really badly and Carson, in every way, wants it badly.”
Wentz was injured when Nick Foles led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl win in the 2017 season, and he said neither he nor Philadelphia is satisfied with the single championship.
“I don’t think this city, this culture could fit me any better, just with the passion (the fans) bring and how bad they want to win, and I’m wired the same way,” Wentz said.
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