Philadelphia Eagles: Good news related to those 2021 salary cap woes

One of those things that get debated, though quietly and often offline, about in this Philadelphia Eagles fan base and around the media is this. There are times when the executive vice president and general manager, Howie Roseman, is sometimes described as some sort of cap magician or genius.

Most of our staff at ITI disagrees. No one should ever be given some sort of badge for cleaning up a mess that they made right? No, seriously. The honorable thing is cleaning up a mess that you weren’t required to clean up. Right?

Regardless of what side of the conversation you sit on in that discussion, here’s what must be said because surprisingly a lot of Philadelphia Eagles fans don’t know this.

Those cap issues we spend so much time referencing aren’t really as big an issue as people, normally fans, will make them out to be. A release or two here. A restructure there, specifically one that might aid Philly in shipping a certain quarterback out of town, and the next thing you know, the Birds are back in business.

Here’s something to mull over if you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan.

You remember the 2017 offseason, don’t you? Philly seemingly had no money to spend, and there was seemingly no way that they could afford one of the best free-agent options at wide receiver. They got two of them, Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith.

Now, they seem set to ship Carson Wentz off, a theory that was seen as financially impossible about two weeks ago. Don’t be surprised if Wentz’s deal is rearranged slightly before he leaves the City of Brotherly Love in an attempt to help both sides (and his destination franchise) make the transition a smooth one.

Now, how did they and how can they do that when they had no disposable income in 2017 and now have even less in 2021? The answer is simple. These salary cap crises aren’t as dire as some of you make them sound. Does Howie look worried? He doesn’t, does he? In the words of Aaron Rodgers, R-E-L-A-X! These things happen more often than you think, and Philly will be fine.

Here’s some good news for Philadelphia Eagles fans in the meantime.

While you’re processing all of that, here’s some more good news. We all got some info on Super Bowl Sunday, and it appears that the NFL’s league offices are close to making a decision that could help the Birds out.

Remember all of that talk about a shrunken cap number after a season where we were all forced to adjust thanks to COVID-19? Well according to a report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter via his Twitter account, 2021’s number might be a little higher than we originally thought. Here’s a quote:

"Though the NFL’s salary cap is not expected to be officially set until next month, league sources believe it will be roughly (between) $180 (and) $181 million. Throughout the past season, many expected it to be around $175 million, but it now is projected to come in slightly higher, per sources."

It doesn’t sound like much, but it helps. Philly should be fine after some maneuvering in March and April.

Too much time on social media will teach you some things. One of which is this. Most NFL fans have no idea how the salary cap works. Stop listening to those guys. Philly will be fine, and after seeing this latest development, if it’s true, Philadelphia Eagles fans should have a little more confidence going into 2021’s offseason.