A deep look inside the Eagles' contracts, salary cap

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A deep look inside the Eagles' contracts, salary cap

 

 

 

Reuben Frank

EAGLES INSIDER

Now that the Eagles have almost finalized their opening-day 53-man roster – it’s still at 52 – it’s a good time to take a look at some fascinating salary and contract trends.

The most expensive? The least expensive? The biggest cap hits? The biggest bargains?

With a big tip of the hat to Spotrac and OverTheCap, two comprehensive salary cap web sites, let’s take a look:

WHERE’S THE MONEY GOING?

Some things never change, and since the early days of Andy Reid’s coaching tenure here – nearly a quarter of a century ago – the Eagles have built around the two lines. Howie Roseman subscribes to that philosophy as well, and this year is no different. Spotrac provides a breakdown of cap rankings by position, and it shows the Eagles’ combined offensive line cap figure for 2022 as $41.7 million, which is second-highest in the league, and a D-line figure of $47.1 million, which is 5th-highest. The total - $88.8 million – is third-highest in the league for both lines, behind the Colts ($96.7 million) and Jets ($90.5 million) and just ahead of the Chiefs ($87.6 million). One team coached by a former Eagles coach, another whose GM worked under Howie Roseman and another coached by Reid himself. The Eagles are in the bottom 10 in the NFL in cap expenditures at every other position: Quarterback (30th at $5 million), running back (28th at $5.2 million), wide receiver (24th at $12.6 million), tight end (23rd at $5.3 million), linebacker (27th at $9.3 million) and secondary (24th at $22.8 million). The two lines combined account for 42 percent of the Eagles’ total cap.

WHO’S MAKING THE MOST?

There are 10 Eagles with an average annual salary of at least $13 million, according to Spotrac: A.J. Brown $25 million, Lane Johnson $18 million, Darius Slay $16.68 million, Jordan Mailata $16 million, Haason Reddick $15 million, Dallas Goedert $14.25 million, Fletcher Cox $14.0 million, Josh Sweat $13.33 million, Brandon Graham $13.33 million and Javon Hargrave $13.0 milion. But there are only three players between $5.3 million per year and $13 million (James Bradberry $7.25 million, Avonte Maddox $7.5 million, Jason Kelce $9 million). Not much middle ground.

BIGGEST SALARY BARGAINS

The Eagles have six starters averaging under $3 million per year, according to Spotrac – T.J. Edwards ($2.2 million), Landon Dickerson ($2.16 million) Jalen Hurts ($1.51 million), Miles Sanders ($1.34 million), Chauncey Gardner-Johnson ($826,025) and Marcus Epps ($672,029). Other regulars under $1 million per year include Kenny Gainwell ($953,882) and Quez Watkins ($866,166). Sanders is the 43rd-highest-paid running back in the league. Edwards, Sanders Gardner-Johnson and Epps are all unsigned beyond this year. 

WHERE DOES HURTS RANK?

Jalen Hurts, now starting the third season of his rookie second-round deal, is the 55th-highest-paid quarterback in the league with an average annual salary of $1.51 million per year. The only starting QB with a lower average annual salary is Davis Mills of the Texans at $1.3 million. Fourteen quarterbacks earn more per week than Hurts earns per year (Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Derek Carr, Dak Prescott, Matthew Stafford, Kirk Cousins, Jared Goff, Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan, Ryan Tannehill).

WHAT ABOUT DEAD MONEY?

According to OverTheCap, the Eagles are taking a $59.84 million dead money salary cap hit this year. Dead money is the combined cap obligations for players who are no longer here (or are here but not on their original Eagles contract). Five players count over $5 million in dead money this year, including two who are still on the team - Fletcher Cox $12.83 million, Derek Barnett $7.25 million. Other significant dead money hits include Malik Jackson ($9.0 million), Brandon Brooks ($5.94 million), Alshon Jeffery ($5.44 million), Zach Ertz ($3.55 million), Anthony Harris ($2.41 million) and Rodney McLeod ($2.14 million). 

WHO’S GOT THE SMALLEST CONTRACTS?

Undrafted players or late-round picks who are deep into their rookie deals are going to be the lowest-paid players on the roster because they haven’t yet benefitted from the annual CBA increases. The lowest average annual salaries on the 53-man roster belong to Epps ($672,029), Gardner Minshew ($677,721), Sua Opeta ($762,500), Jack Stoll ($815,833) and Gardner-Johnson ($826,025). Because contracts grow significantly more lucrative each year, undrafted rookies like Josh Jobe, Josh Sills and Reed Blankenship all make more (about $856,000) than veterans like Minshew, Gardner-Johnson and Epps.

HOW LONG ARE THEY SIGNED?

Lane Johnson is the only Eagle signed through 2027 (and one of only nine players league-wide), but Brown is signed through 2026 and Mailata, Goedert and Jordan Davis are signed through 2025. Nineteen others are signed through 2024. Among the significant Eagles whose contracts are set to expire after the 2022 season are Epps, Edwards, Sanders, Zach Pascal, Boston Scott, Gardner-Johnson, Andre Dillard, Kyzir White, Isaac Seumalo, Bradberry and Hargrave. 

CURRENT CAP SPACE

According to OverTheCap, the Eagles currently have $1,222,942 available under their adjusted 2022 cap figure of $226,890,095. That's the least available cap room among the 32 NFL teams. The Eagles’ 10 largest 2022 cap hits according to Spotrack belong to Hargrave ($17.80 million), Johnson ($15.76 million), Slay ($10.13 million), Graham ($9.41 million), Kelce ($8.05 million), Seumalo ($7.67 million), Brown ($5.63 million), Barnett ($5.44 million), Jake Elliott ($5.09 million) and Smith ($4.58 million).

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/deep-look-inside-eagles-contracts-salary-cap-entering-2022-season

[Rob331]

the dead money next year makes me think that even if Hurts has a real good season he will be playing without a new contract and will be resigned or tagged in 2024

[weko]

6 hours ago, Rob331 said:

the dead money next year makes me think that even if Hurts has a real good season he will be playing without a new contract and will be resigned or tagged in 2024

Even if we extend him he will play next year for his low rookie rate but will have the upfront signing bonus, spread out over the length of the new deal, to make up the difference.