Eagles got CB Nelson at a bargain, contract details show

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Eagles got CB Nelson at a bargain, contract details show

 

The Eagles waited a long time to get their CB2 … but they got him at a bargain.

Steve Nelson signed earlier this week and the contract details show that the Eagles didn’t have to break the bank to bring in the 28-year-old veteran corner.

Nelson’s one-year deal with the Eagles is worth $2.5 million guaranteed but he comes with a cap hit of just under $1.3 million in 2021, a league source told NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Here are some other details of Nelson’s contract:

Base salary: $990,000

Total guarantee: $2.5 million

Signing bonus: $1 million

Other bonus: $510,000

2021 cap hit: $1.292 million

2022 dead money: $1.208 million

This seems like a bargain for a guy who has had some pretty good seasons. Does he feel like the market didn’t recognize him?

"I wouldn’t say that, I would just say it was about the timing, the timing of my release,” Nelson said this week. "Free agency, it kind of just doesn’t work out the way you want it to at certain times. I definitely feel like people recognize me as a player, I just feel like it was the timing.”

As a reminder, Nelson did miss the initial wave of free agency. He was not released by the Steelers until March 23. But then he was available for four months before signing with the Eagles.

Like the Eagles have done with many contracts this offseason, they added four voidable (dummy) years to the end of Nelson’s contract to spread out the cap hit over two seasons instead of one. Basically, signing bonuses can be prorated over multiple years to alleviate initial cap strain.

With Nelson and second-round pick Landon Dickerson under contract, the Eagles are left with $3,782,031 in available cap space. They can use that space or roll it over into the 2022 league year.

In 2022, the Eagles will be in a much better salary cap situation, which is why they have structured so many of these free agent deals to minimize 2021 cap hits. There will be some dead money left over in 2022, but they’ll be able to handle it then.

As a reminder, here are the cap hits for their notable free agent acquisitions in 2021:

Andrew Adams: $987,500

Le’Raven Clark: $925,000

Joe Flacco: $1.56 million

Anthony Harris: $1.592 million

Ryan Kerrigan: $1.36 million

Steve Nelson: $1.292 million

Richard Rodgers: $887,500

Eric Wilson: $1.378 million

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/eagles-steven-nelson-contract-another-deal-minimal-salary-cap-hit?fbclid=IwAR1vULxqbEKBMVH5GCyywS6kfyn-utKIwIHGuwRo9hQd9orDSmlyFIaR7DU