Malcolm Jenkins says he won’t return to the Eagles under his same contract

We’ve said it before: Pay Malcolm Jenkins what he deserves.

And it looks like the Eagles are going to have to pay up or shut up sooner rather than later. During the locker room clean out on Monday, Jenkins didn’t mince words about his expectations for a new contract.

It was a story-line most of the offseason last year, with the 11-year veteran skipping voluntary OTAs while looking for a contract that better reflected his contributions and impact on this Eagles team. He spoke to owner Jeff Lurie ahead of training camp, who assured him that he was valued and respected, but there were other players looking for new deals too who took precedent — like Lane Johnson and Zach Ertz.

Those guys both signed news deal during the season, and now Jenkins wants (and deserves) his.

Jenkins ended up reporting for training camp and went on to take 100% of the defensive snaps in 2019 — for the second season in a row — and a good number of special teams snaps, too. An impressive feat for a 32 year old player, let alone given the injury prone status of the Philly team this season.

His consistency and reliability have been lauded by defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and his teammates throughout the season.

He finished the 2019 season with 89 total tackles, 12 QB hits, 8 pass breakups, 4 forced fumbles (and 1 fumble recovery), and 3.5 sacks. AND just finished his sixth season in Philly and has never missed a regular season game for the team.

Jenkins deserved the pay raise ahead of the 2019 season, but even moreso now. As Brandon Gowton explained earlier in the year:

“Jenkins isn’t wrong to believe he’s undervalued. He’s currently the league’s ninth highest paid safety in terms of annual value at $8.75 million. The final two years on his current contract contain base salaries of $8.1 million and $7.6 million with zero dollars in guaranteed salary (per Over The Cap).”

Pay. The. Man.