Philadelphia Eagles 2015 Mistakes To Avoid

Jan 23, 2015; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback

at Team Irvin practice at Scottsdale Community College in advance of the 2015 Pro Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

V.  Committing too much salary to one player

Tony Romo.   As much as I want to hate the guy, I just can’t.  Yes, he plays for the enemy.  Yes, he’s been the winning quarterback on some occasions when the Cowboys face the Eagles. But, he does his part to help us out.  How?   Well, in 2015 his salary cap hit runs $27.7 Million.  Cut?  It gets better… He cripples the team at $37.4 Million.   Sure.. he’s good, but Nick Foles, the kid everyone seems to love to bash, is merely $815,500 in 2015.

So how can Dallas do that?  Well, they’ve asked Romo to reschedule his contract in 2014, and will likely do that again.   Why is that still okay for an Eagles fan?   They simply push today’s dollars out into tomorrow.  So…. the pain of Romo’s astronomical salary keeps giving the Cowboys front office headaches again and again and again.

In perspective, Tony Romo cost to the Cowboys in 2015 is the equivalent of LeSean McCoy, Connor Barwin, and Jason Peters combined.   That’s entertaining.

So far, the Eagles have managed to avoid the salary traps that hurt teams who chase that one player a little too hard.  But with the Eagles facing a small number of free agents in 2015, there may be some perception that all dollars available should be used to resign our players.  Well, certainly, if we were happy with the results from 2014.  But the team needs to sign some quality talent to shore up the defense… and those signatures will need dollars.

So it’s a trade off.  That’s why we should not cheer for the team to go “all in” on that one name.   We need to take care of more than one player, and build in enough flexibility to allow personnel moves in case of injury early in the season.

So let the Cowboys pay Romo.   And then, grab the popcorn and watch how creative they get in trying to sign 20 other free agents.

See ya Monday!