CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- New Carolina Panthers edge rusher Jaelan Phillips already has plans to buy a house in Charlotte with a "nice backyard and a pool" for his fiancé and their soon-to-be born first child they've already named Shiloh.
The player Carolina signed to a four-year, $120 million contract as a free agent also has big plans on the field, turning his high quarterback pressure rate into sacks.
"I used this phrase when I was talking to the team a couple of days ago,'' Phillips said Monday on a video call with reporters. "Just turning all that disruption into production.''
The biggest missing part in general manager Dan Morgan's plan to turn a defense that was statistically the worst in NFL history two years ago into a top-10 unit has been an elite pass rusher.
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Morgan made attempts with midlevel pass rushers seemingly on the verge of taking the next step, but none panned out.
He says he believes the 26-year-old Phillips -- despite having only 28 sacks in five seasons and a max of 8.5 as a rookie with the Miami Dolphins in 2021 -- is that player.
Phillips says he thinks he consistently can produce double-digit sacks, something the Panthers haven't had since Brian Burns' 12.5 in 2022 and before that when Julius Peppers and Mario Addison each had 11 in 2017.
Jaelan Phillips spent last season with the Eagles before joining the Panthers as a free agent. Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
"That's kind of the next step of my career,'' Phillips said. "But at the bare minimum I'm a disruptive force.''
The Panthers are banking on it. They gave Phillips a larger free agent deal than the four-year, $112 million contract Trey Hendrickson got from the Baltimore Ravens and the four-year, $100 million deal Odafe Oweh got from the Washington Commanders.
Hendrickson, who was limited to seven games because of injury last season, had a combined 35 sacks in 2023 and 2024.
Phillips' average of $30 million a year also is higher than the $28.2 million the New York Giants gave Burns on a five-year deal in 2024 after the Panthers wouldn't meet his demands. Burns had a career-high 16.5 sacks in 2025.
"I do want to get those sack numbers up,'' Phillips said. "I've always known that I can be a 10-plus [sack] guy. I want to establish myself as one of the top, top elite guys.''
The Eagles also saw that in Phillips. They made an aggressive offer to keep him, but the No. 18 pick of the 2021 draft chose the Panthers because he says he views them as an up-and-coming team.
Phillips agreed to a deal without even having a video call with Morgan and others in the organization. Phillips says he believes that adding him and former Jaguars inside linebacker Devin Lloyd as free agents to a defense that already has Pro Bowl players Jaycee Horn (corner) and Derrick Brown (defensive tackle) means their potential is "out of the roof.''
Potential is the key word, and turning disruption into sack production will be key.
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Phillips' 50 quarterback pressures in 2025 were tied with Myles Garrett for seventh most in the league. Phillips had five sacks. Only Abdul Carter of the Giants had fewer sacks (four) with 50-plus pressures.
Garrett set an NFL single-season sack record with 23 for the Browns.
So only 10% of Phillips' pressures in 2025 ended with sacks, down from 23% on 100 pressures in his first four seasons, according to ESPN research.
His pressure win rate was worse the last half of the season after being traded from the Dolphins to the Eagles, where he was reunited with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who ran the Miami defense in 2023. Phillips' pressure rate dropped from 14% to 13% with the Eagles in Fangio's 3-4 scheme, which is similar to Carolina coordinator Ejiro Evero's. His pass rush win rate dropped from 18% to 9%, according to ESPN research.
Blitzing might have played a role in that. The Dolphins blitzed 34% of the time compared to 13% for the Eagles. Phillips will join a Carolina defense that blitzed on 27% of its snaps in 2025, although the Panthers were in their base scheme only 27% of the time.
"The only knock you can say about me is that I don't have a bunch of sacks," Phillips said. "It's not that it's irrelevant. Obviously, production matters. At the end of the day, as long as you're being disruptive, as long as you're making an impact and making plays ... this game is about a lot more than sacks.''
But the Panthers signed Phillips to get sacks, and getting them is everyone's expectation.
"I'm a disruptive force,'' Phillips said. "When I get on that field, man, it's instinctive, it's fast. ... It's balls to the walls 100% of the time.''