Eagles sign Jordan Mailata to four-year extension with $40.85 million guaranteed for the left tackle, Aussie native

The Eagles reward their starting left tackle Mailata three years after coming to the team with a rugby background.

Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata waves to fans during training camp at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday, August 8, 2021.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

Published Sept. 11, 2021, 1:16 p.m. ET

ATLANTA -- Less than two weeks after being named the Eagles’ starting left tackle, Jordan Mailata has signed a contract extension through 2025 with $40.85 million guaranteed.

The news broke Saturday afternoon while the Eagles were traveling south to Atlanta, where they will play the Falcons in the season opener Sunday. Mailata’s new deal is worth up to $64 million and it includes escalators and incentives with the possibility to earn as much as $80 million, league sources told The Inquirer.

“I’m excited to be here for another four years representing this team and city,” Mailata said in a video after the team announced his extension. “I can’t wait to keep representing my family and everything I have in me.”

Mailta had a unique journey to reach this stage.

Just three years ago, Mailata was a seventh-round pick in the NFL draft. It was then he said that he knew “as little as peanuts” about football while attempting to transition sports after previously having played rugby his entire life in his native Australia.

The 6-foot-8, 365-pound lineman entered training camp in a position battle with fellow offensive lineman and Andre Dillard. However, Mailata dominated the summer. He consistently won his one-on-one battles and proved there wasn’t much competition at all between him and Dillard, a former first-round pick who battled injuries in camp.

“Jordan had a great, great camp,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said at the beginning of September.

Said Mailata: “I was kind of branding myself as a football player because I believed it. That was my biggest thing of not being seen as a rugby player anymore. I’m going to keep doing that until I scrub that from my history.”

The Eagles hope Mailata will anchor the left side of the offensive line for the foreseeable future. Across the O-line, he’s paired with left guard Isaac Seumalo, center Jason Kelce, right guard Brandon Brooks, and right tackle Lane Johnson.

Kelce described this summer’s competition between Dillard and Mailata as a life-changing position battle, alluding to the possibility for a big payday that Mailata has now cashed in on.