A perfect fit in Philly, Landon Dickerson has plans for his massive extension money
A perfect fit in Philly, Landon Dickerson has plans for his massive extension money originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Landon Dickerson became a very rich man this week when he agreed to a four-year, $84 million contract extension that made him the highest-paid guard in NFL history.
He has big plans for all that money too.
“I don’t know. I may go get a new lawnmower,” Dickerson said. “Kinda something I’ve been looking into.”
(A zero-turn riding mower, to be specific)
A no-nonsense answer from a no-nonsense guy, who just so happens to be a perfect fit in Philadelphia.
The Eagles took a bit of a gamble when they drafted Dickerson out of Alabama in the second round (No. 37 overall) of the 2021 draft but he’s lived up to his billing. While there were concerns about Dickerson’s injury history in college, he’s been durable in the NFL and is coming off back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons in his first two years as a full-time starter.
Dickerson didn’t have to sign this contract right now. He could have played out the final year of his rookie contract, he could have bet on himself and hit free agency after the 2024 season.
But he didn’t want to do all that.
Of course the big payday helped, but Dickerson said he never planned on going anywhere else.
“I didn’t tell Howie that, though,” he joked. “It just shows a lot of respect and how much trust they have in me to continue to grow as a player and develop and do good things for this team and this city.”
The Eagles this week made Dickerson the highest paid guard in the NFL with that APY of $21 million. That might seem like a bit of an overpay but the guard market has exploded in free agency and the Eagles are hoping they got ahead of the market a bit and they obviously hope Dickerson is still an ascending player.
In any case, Dickerson wasn’t interested in moving on and the Eagles weren’t interested in letting him entertain the idea.
“Being here has been a tremendous bright spot in my life,” the left guard said. “And we really didn’t plan on being anywhere else. The only thing I’ve heard of, guys when they leave this organization and go somewhere else, how much they miss everything about this place. For me, I just didn’t want there to be any question about how much I wanted to be here and stick around here and hopefully be here my entire career.”
The Eagles have already gotten two Pro Bowl seasons out of Dickerson but they’re counting on him getting even better and becoming a cornerstone of an offensive line that will be without Jason Kelce for the first time in over a decade in 2024.
Dickerson learned a ton from Kelce and even though he admitted it’ll be nearly impossible to replace the future Hall of Famer, Dickerson wants to continue to improve his own game with Kelce in mind. He spoke specifically on Tuesday about wanting to understand defenses and wanting to help over-communicate calls at the line. Those were some of Kelce’s major responsibilities. Dickerson also wants to continue to expand his role as a leader; Kelce was a team captain.
The good news is that there’s no question that Dickerson seems has the right mentality to continue growing as an NFL player.
The 25-year-old is notoriously his own biggest critic. He’s really harsh on himself.
So maybe there was already a bit of Philly in him before he even arrived. Because when fans boo an ugly performance at the end of a half, it’s not like Dickerson is the guy trying to explain it away. He always sees the blunt truth. And he seems to appreciate when fans see the truth and are vocal about it.
During his eloquent 41-minute retirement speech last week, Kelce expressed pretty succinctly what it takes to play in Philly. Some guys just aren’t built for it. Some guys are.
Dickerson is.
After three seasons, Dickerson explained why he thinks he’s such a good fit here:
“I think it’s just the way that the city and the fans feed off this team and the way, vice versa there,” he said. “It’s a very demanding place to play and a lot of people aren’t up for that task. But for me, I absolutely love it. There’s a high expectation every season. And the fans are going to let you know how you guys are doing, whether it’s walking down the middle of the street or going in at halftime.
“They’re brutally honest with you. I appreciate that. And I just love the passion of this city and everybody has here. It’s hard to find anything like that anywhere else in the country.”
That may sound like pandering, which is never a bad idea. But it’s also not Dickerson’s style.
And, heck, who has time for pandering when you’ve got some lawnmower shopping to get done?
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