The spit seen ’round the sports world will ultimately cost Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter tens of thousands of dollars when his fine from the NFL becomes official next week, as well as whatever internal punishment Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni may have planned for him.
But if he’s suspended by the league for spitting on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott on Thursday night, Carter will feel the financial crunch even more. And even a one-game suspension would void his remaining guarantees, according to the terms of his contract obtained by CBS Sports.
The NFL continues to review the incident that saw Carter, six seconds into the first game of the season, spit on Prescott. Carter will be fined by the league to the tune of five figures according to sources, who have not yet ruled out a potential one-game suspension from the NFL that would see Carter miss next week’s Super Bowl rematch against the Chiefs that would result in a loss of a $57,222 game check.
Jalen Carter spits away his image rehab in ugly Dak Prescott incident: ‘You can tell he’s devastated’
Jeff Kerr
A 2024 second-team All Pro and arguably the best defensive player for the reigning champions, Carter is in the third year of his four-year rookie contract that guaranteed him $21.8 million upon signing after the 2023 NFL draft. According to the terms of his contract, the remaining base salaries for 2025 and 2026, as well as the roster bonuses this year and next, would automatically void should the NFL suspend Carter.
To be clear, even if this takes place, multiple sources emphasize it would merely be perfunctory. Carter is one of the best in the world at what he does, and the Eagles will not claw back any money. The overwhelmingly likely scenario is that he would make every dollar he was supposed to regardless of the accounting trigger. The risk is largely theoretical.
But the episode shines a new light on a clause in many NFL player contracts that helps financially protect teams in the event of bad behavior. Perhaps there was no bigger contract story before training camps began than in Cincinnati, where rookie Shemar Stewart fought a losing battle over this exact contract language.
Stewart, the 17th overall pick in this year’s draft, refused to sign his standard rookie contract with the Bengals for months as Cincinnati tried to update its language to include voiding guarantees should a player get suspended. The battle wore on into training camp, with Stewart eventually signing a deal with that language but getting a better payout structure than previous first-round picks with the team.
Carter was considered by some across the league to be the best player in the 2023 draft, and even more believed he was the best defensive player in the draft. But questions about Carter’s maturity, as well as his involvement in street racing that ultimately led to the deaths of two members of the University of Georgia football community, led to Carter falling to ninth overall.
Though he’s been fined by the league for fighting, a late hit and unnecessary roughness, Carter has never come close to being suspended. When it comes to his base salary and roster bonuses, Carter has standard default language in his contract.
“If, at any time during the Contract, Player is in Default or has Defaulted, (i) the 2026 Guarantee shall immediately be deemed null and void from the beginning and in its entirety,” his contract reads, “regardless of whether or not the 2026 Guarantee had otherwise been earned according to its terms at the time of Player’s Default and (ii) prior to termination, Player is entitled to earn the salary for the applicable League Year as provided in Paragraph 5 of the NFL Player Contract on a non-guaranteed basis in accordance with and subject to the terms and conditions of the Contract and the CBA.”
Adding up the remaining guaranteed money on Carter’s deal, a suspension by the league would void about $6.3 million in guarantees. But as stated above, Carter would be eligible to earn every dollar back on a non-guaranteed basis, and he almost surely would.
Carter does have carve-outs in his contract related to default language that are unique to the position he plays. While his guarantees void for a suspension, going AWOL on the team or violating the league’s policy on performance enhancing drugs, he is not fined for just any suspension.
Should the league suspend Carter for one game for hitting a defenseless player or initiating contact with the crown of his helmet, his guarantees would not void. Only if he’s suspended for more than one game after one of those violations would he be in default, similar to how Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair saw his guarantees void last year when the league handed down a three-game suspension his hit on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Carter is eligible for a long-term contract extension after this season concludes. The Eagles have been one of the most aggressive teams in the league when it comes to extending star players early, and any league punishment from Thursday night wouldn’t shake the team from any future plans. Three-time first-team All-Pro Chris Jones sits atop the interior defensive lineman market at the $31.75 million per year mark.
“It was a mistake that happened on my side. It just won’t happen again,” Carter said after the game. “I feel bad, just for my teammates and the fans out there. I’m doing it for them. I’m doing it for my family also. They showed the most love. You heard them out there today.
“Just not being able to finish the game, or start the game even, finish the game (is disappointing). It won’t happen again, I promise.”
The NFL has historically only fined players for spitting at or on opponents. But the league has placed a great emphasis on sportsmanship the past few years, and it reminded players of that emphasis within a training video shown to all 32 teams during training camps.
“Respect your opponent, respect your teammates and play the game in between the whistles,” NFL EVP of football operations Troy Vincent says in the video.
Mitigating factors that should help Carter in determining his punishment will be the fact that he missed essentially the entire game Thursday night, coupled with the contrition he showed in the locker room after the game. The events leading up Carter’s spit, including Prescott spitting on the ground before the incident, will likely be taken into consideration.
Aggravating factors would be he has been fined four times in the past two years, the league’s emphasis on sportsmanship and, whether it’s fair or not, the fact that he spit on a Walter Payton Man of the Year winner on what will likely be one of the top-25 most-watched broadcasts on television all year long.
Should the league suspend Carter, there is no doubt he would appeal the suspension. Only after the suspension is upheld would any guarantees ultimately void.
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