Philadelphia Eagles Fans: Put Your Salary Caps On

Sep 19, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman prior to the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Lincoln Financial Field. The Chiefs defeated the Eagles 26-16. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Philadelphia Eagles Fans: Put Your Salary Caps On

Its our annual exercise in math, budget, and pretend General Manager. The Philadelphia Eagles are sitting without ten players who are currently heading into free agency, and are pretty good as far as their salary caps. The question is, what do they do?

Well, first of all, I would like to congratulate former General Manager Howie Roseman, who has invariably left the Philadelphia Eagles in wonderful shape as far as the salary cap. With only ten players testing free agency waters, and an estimated $20 Million in free salary cap space, the Philadelphia Eagles have plenty of room to maneuver.   With several key players looking for nice contracts, the team will be busy trying to keep their own players happy before signing anyone new on board.  But in relative terms, the team is pretty well off.  They are at the mid point of cap space, and better off than any other NFC East rival.

So what do the Eagles need to do?

More from Eagles News

• How former Eagles star Cre’Von LeBlanc helped Renegades upstage Cowboys
• Eagles 2023 schedule: Every WR duo Darius Slay, James Bradberry will battle
• Imagining better names for Jason Kelce’s Good Guy Award
• Bold predictions for the Philadelphia Eagles offense in 2023
• Reactions as ESPN suggests NFL roster moves involving Eagles, Carson Wentz

First of all, the team needs to assess the value of their top five contracts.   In descending order, that is

LeSean McCoy – Cap number $11,950,000.   Pay Rank (2nd – behind Adrian Peterson) Performance Rank (3rd – behind DeMarco Murray – Dallas and Le’Veon Bell – Pittsburg)  Some have suggested that McCoy‘s contract will be renegotiated.  That’s hard to imagine, considering McCoy has been averaging 1,500 yards / year under head coach Chip Kelly.   It was clear when McCoy was not gaining large yardage, the Eagles pushed quarterback Nick Foles well out of his comfort zone.   To improve ball security, the team must do better in the running game and pass fewer attempts.   That means McCoy will get paid.

Trent Cole – Cap Number $11,625,000.  Pay Rank (Contracted as 4-3 DE, rated as fifth most lucrative contract) Performance Rank (Not in top ten – teammate Connor Barwin paid at $6 M per year and had much better season).    By rights, Trent Cole has already acknowledged that a renegotiated contract would not upset him.   He’s now playing a 3-4 outside linebacker.  And while he’s doing just fine in rotating out with Brandon Graham, he’s clearly not in the top five at the position.   I’d expect to see the cap number come down on Cole this off-season, and place his term out to 2019, but bring his annual cap amount down to the $6 M – $7 M range.  (Savings of $5,000,000 to cap space)

Jason Peters – Cap Number $9,050,000.  Pay Rank ( 7th)   Performance Rank – Top three.    Jason Peters is the anchor of the Eagles offensive line.   He is getting older, but still is a dominating presence on the left side.   His pay is below his performance.   No change.

Live Feed

Betsided

Cary Williams – Cap Number $8,166,168.   Pay Rank (19th) Performance Rank – Below average.   Cary Williams is an intelligent player who knows that he will be under pressure to concede a little on his salary in the off-season.   While his contract is NOT excessive, Philadelphia may roll the dice once more on free agency.   If outright cut from the team, he’ll count $1.66M against the cap.   If the Eagles do manage to work his contract down to a $4 M range,  he could stay.

DeMeco Ryans – Cap Number $6,900,000.  Pay Rank (9th) Performance Rank (in top ten)   DeMeco Ryans was on track to have a team leading season in tackles, and is the emotional leader of the defense.   Despite an injury, the team had adequate backups to keep the defense solid in run defense.   Unfortunately, his absence forced Billy Davis to go more dime packages, and commit the extra defensive back to short routes.   That left both cornerbacks exposed on deep routes, and the rest is history.   Ryans is neither overpaid nor going anywhere.

SALARY  DOLLARS UNDER CAP  – $26,000,000