Report: Eagles, Brandon Brooks agree to contract restructure that signals his end in Philly

[time2rock]

Report: Eagles, Brandon Brooks agree to contract restructure that signals his end in Philly

Philadelphia is moving on from a great player.

By Brandon Lee Gowton@BrandonGowton  Jan 26, 2022, 10:31am EST  

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

 

Brandon Brooks and the Philadelphia Eagles agreed to a contract restructure that signals the end of his time in Philly, according to a report from NFL Network.

This restructure isn’t totally dissimilar to how the Eagles moved some money around to set the table for them eventually releasing Alshon Jeffery and Malik Jackson as designated post-June 1 cuts last year.

NFL salary cap expert Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap offered some more insight on what this Brooks restructure means:

(Note that a player retiring and a player being released works the same from a salary cap perspective.)

The TL;DR version is that the Eagles cleared extra space this year but they’ll take on more dead money in the future. They’re not so worried about that latter part with the anticipation that the cap will eventually explode (in a good way).

Opening up around $12 million with this Brooks restructure means the Eagles are projected to have about $24 million entering free agency. That projected figure is currently the 14th most in the league.

Getting back to Brooks, it’s a shame that his Eagles career had to end this way. He proved to be a great free agent signing, making 67 total starts (including playoffs) from 2016 through 2020. In addition to being the Eagles’ Super Bowl starting right guard, he earned three Pro Bowl berths.

Unfortunately, injuries derailed Brooks’ career. Brooks originally made a remarkable recovery from an Achilles injury in the Eagles’ January 2019 playoff game against the New Orleans Saints. It was a surprise to see him ready for Week 1 of the 2019 regular season. But then Brooks suffered a separated shoulder in the regular season finale that year. And then he suffered another Achilles injury during the 2020 offseason, preventing him from playing all year. The Eagles reportedly gave thought to trading Brooks during the 2021 offseason but he returned and made two starts before suffering a chest injury in Week 2. Lane Johnson suggested Brooks was going to be able to return in eight weeks but that never happened and Brooks instead remained on injured reserve.

Brooks should be remembered as a very good Eagles starter who was underrated from a national perspective. His impact on lives off the field through his mental advocacy was also remarkable. Brooks is a sharp dude who will likely have a bright post-football career in whatever he decides to do.

Moving forward, the Eagles will have to figure out who they want to start at right guard. They could move Landon Dickerson to that spot if Jason Kelce returns for another season and Isaac Seumalo plays at left guard. If Kelce doesn’t come back, though, it could be Seumalo at center, Dickerson at left guard, and Jack Driscoll or a rookie filling Brooks’ place.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Brooks will address Philly reporters via virtual press conference at 11:00 AM Eastern this morning.

https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2022/1/26/22902556/brandon-brooks-eagles-news-nfl-contract-restructure-philadelphia-salary-cap-space-retire-release

[UK_EaglesFan89]

$9.8M in dead money in 2023? Howie doing what Howie does best. 

[time2rock]

54 minutes ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

$9.8M in dead money in 2023? Howie doing what Howie does best. 

Paco wrote a most informative post about this.  Basically, with the cap expected to jump by quite a bit, having moved $9.8M to 2023 will then chew up less% of the cap that year, so it can be a smart strategy.  E.g. if the cap this upcoming year was (arbitrarily) $200M, that $9.8M would account for 4.9% of the cap.  If the cap goes up to $220M in 2023, then the $9.8M accounts for 4.45%. 

I just think Howie does this a bit too much (and with aging and oft-injured players we shouldn't continually be kicking the can down the road with ... if you want to do that with some younger players still in their prime then fine).  

[UK_EaglesFan89]

9 minutes ago, time2rock said:

Paco wrote a most informative post about this.  Basically, with the cap expected to jump by quite a bit, having moved $9.8M to 2023 will then chew up less% of the cap that year, so it can be a smart strategy.  E.g. if the cap this upcoming year was (arbitrarily) $200M, that $9.8M would account for 4.9% of the cap.  If the cap goes up to $220M in 2023, then the $9.8M accounts for 4.45%. 

I just think Howie does this a bit too much (and with aging and oft-injured players we shouldn't continually be kicking the can down the road with ... if you want to do that with some younger players still in their prime then fine).  

And that's my issue here... He does this all the time and a lot of the time it feels like it is because he's given out a bad contract so he's having to rectify that. 

[eggs]

Does anyone have a sense how the restructuring fits in with the retirement?  Does his voluntary retirement mean the $15.7 MM of dead cap money goes away?  If so, I wondering if we all have been underestimating Howie and his kick the can approach to old players. 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

9 hours ago, eggs said:

Does anyone have a sense how the restructuring fits in with the retirement?  Does his voluntary retirement mean the $15.7 MM of dead cap money goes away?  If so, I wondering if we all have been underestimating Howie and his kick the can approach to old players. 

No I don't think so... I think that's why Howie restructured the deal to limit the impact of dead money this year. 

[time2rock]

13 hours ago, eggs said:

Does anyone have a sense how the restructuring fits in with the retirement?  Does his voluntary retirement mean the $15.7 MM of dead cap money goes away?  If so, I wondering if we all have been underestimating Howie and his kick the can approach to old players. 

IINM, the only money that "goes away" would be his base salary and any roster or workout bonuses.  The prorated bonus that was spread out through the life of the contract would accelerate into 2022 (under normal circumstances ... well, actually they still do initially ... the $9.8M in dead money that pushes into 2023 won't be realized until June 1).