Newly extended Landon Dickerson loves playing for the Eagles: ‘Hopefully be here my entire career’

Landon Dickerson remembers his performance in his NFL debut with the Eagles in Week 2 of 2021, his rookie season, against the San Francisco 49ers. He might prefer it if the rest of the world didn’t.

“I wouldn’t recommend pulling it up,” Dickerson said with a smile on Tuesday. “It did not go very well.”

But those early bumps, coupled with the injuries he endured throughout his collegiate career at Florida State and Alabama, have helped Dickerson appreciate the latest chapter in his Eagles career. On Monday, the 25-year-old agreed to terms on a four-year extension worth up to $87 million ($21 million average annual value), making him the highest-paid guard in the league and keeping him under contract through 2028.

The extension serves as a reminder to Dickerson of the trust that general manager Howie Roseman and owner Jeffrey Lurie have in him to be a cornerstone of the Eagles offense going forward. Dickerson, the 37th overall pick in the 2021 draft, acknowledged that he never planned on signing anywhere else.

“I absolutely love it,” Dickerson said of playing for the Eagles. “There’s a high expectation every season. 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 into halftime. They’re brutally honest with you. I appreciate that, and I just love the passion that this city and everybody has here. It’s hard to find anything like that anywhere else in the country.”

Dickerson, at 6-foot-6 and 333 pounds, has cemented his role at starting left guard, earning Pro Bowl nods over the last two seasons. He has allowed just six sacks on 1,723 pass-blocking snaps in his three-year career, according to Pro Football Focus.

With increased investment comes increased responsibility, on and off the field. In the wake of veteran center Jason Kelce’s retirement, Dickerson expressed an understanding that he can undertake more of a leadership role going into his fourth season.

“I’m not going to say impossible, but nearly impossible to replace somebody like Jason,” he said. “What he did for not only his teammates, for this city, and everybody around him, there’s only one of him, and I think there will only be one of him. So, big shoes to fill, but absolutely, I’m going to embrace whatever role comes to me and whatever this team needs.”

The team needs a starting center, and Dickerson could be an option to assume Kelce’s post. At Alabama, Dickerson started at guard but moved to center, ultimately earning the Rimington Trophy as the best at the position in college football in his senior year.

Dickerson said that a potential move isn’t his call, but he said that there are “a lot of good options in that offensive line room of guys who can move to center,” including right guard Cam Jurgens, who was a center for four seasons at Nebraska. Dickerson said he expects the plan at center to start to materialize once organized team activities begin in May.

Regardless of whom the Eagles identify to take over at center, Dickerson said he hopes to improve his ability to read defenses going into Year 4, a skill that Kelce excelled at.

“I know, obviously, it’s hard to replace what [Kelce] was able to see and do,” he said. “But being more involved and trying to ... [have] a game plan that’s going to be good and trying to check things on the fly and maybe over communicating things to whoever the center may be or the quarterback or anything like that. Just really increasing that role overall.”

With his new contract, Dickerson becomes the first member of the Eagles’ 2021 draft class to sign an extension. Wide receiver DeVonta Smith, the 10th overall pick that year, is also eligible for an extension, but the Eagles could elect to pick up his fifth-year option by the May 2 deadline.

Dickerson, who has made the Philadelphia area his year-round home since becoming an Eagle, said that signing an extension now rather than waiting was a priority.

“Being here has been a tremendous bright spot in my life,” he said. “We really didn’t plan on being anywhere else. The only thing I’ve heard of is guys when they leave this organization go somewhere else and 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.”

Thanks to the newfound influx in cash, Dickerson said he might buy a zero-turn lawnmower. When Dickerson agreed to terms on the new deal, he said the first person he called was his father; his mother was at work, but she eventually called him, too.

“Super excited for me,” Dickerson said of his parents’ reactions. “They told me how much I deserved it. They’re just really ecstatic for me and happy.”

Three years, two Pro Bowl selections, and potentially one lawnmower later, Dickerson has put that debut performance in the 49ers game firmly in the past and solidified himself as a core member of the Eagles’ future.