Jaelan Phillips Expects Big Sack Numbers with Carolina Panthers

This is lofty talk for Phillips, who, while still being very talented and disruptive, hasn’t had more than 6.5 sacks in a season since 2023. The lack of sacks isn’t all on Phillips, though, as he dealt with injuries leading up to 2025. 

Phillips Can Remain Effective Regardless of Sacks

After playing just four games in 2024, Philips played all 17 in 2025. For the season, the former Dolphin/Eagle recorded 29 solo tackles, 5 sacks, and 1 forced fumble. Looking at these numbers in isolation would be misleading about Phillips’s actual effectiveness.

Phillips doesn’t have the flashy high sack totals, but he does have the pressure rate to back up how much he got paid by the Panthers. Phillips’ QB pressure rate was 5th in the entire NFL, with a pressure rate of 15.9%. This is extremely valuable for Carolina, which was at the bottom of the league in pressure rate and QB hits in 2025.

What It Means For the Panthers If Phillips Does Get to 10+ Sacks

Carolina’s defense should already be better with Phillips’s presence along the edge, but if he finds his way to 10+ sacks, along with young studs like Nic Scourton and Derrick Brown on the line, it may mean the Panthers will have one of the best pass rushes in all of football. 

Combine that with the boost in coverage from the Devin Lloyd signing, and the Panthers could prove to be one of the hardest defenses to play against in 2026. 

Why Phillips Has to Produce

If there’s anything that will prove Jaelan Phillips isn’t being overpaid, it’d be a double-digit sack season. Phillips can prove he’s worth all $120 million with a 10+ sack season, and the Panthers overall pass rush and QB pressure rate improving by a large margin from the 2025 unit. 

GM Dan Morgan took a huge swing on Phillips believing numbers like these are possible, if it doesn’t work out, Morgan will face questions around his decision making.