Battle plans to help Philadelphia Eagles go all-in for Russell Wilson

The Eagles clear cap space, trade for Wilson, and give him an extension.

Fielding Russell Wilson won’t be as cost-effective for the Birds as fielding Philadelphia’s resident QB1 would be. Hurts, a second-round selection in 2020, will cost the team $1.9 million in salary expenditures during the 2023 campaign. He represents $485,486 in dead-cap money.

Yep! Russ is much more expensive than that. Then, there’s this thing about the 2022-2023 season being the third year of a four-year contract extension the Hawks inked him to on April 16th of 2019.

Just check out what Russell Wilson costs Seattle in 2022. He has a base salary of $19 million. His signing bonus is $13 million. He has a roster bonus of $5 million. In 2023, that base salary swells to $22 million. If acquiring Wilson is something the Birds are serious about doing, they’re going to have to be creative in how they free up some cap space to ensure he’ll be around for a while because they’re going to need it.

We’ve mentioned ways that the Birds could free up some money before. They’ll have to be creative and courageous this offseason. Might we finally see them exhibit the courage to move on from some guys they’re emotionally attached to (Fletcher Cox and that monster salary for instance)?

If they’re to acquire Wilson, they’ll need the space, and those will be the types of decisions they’ll be making to land one of the game’s best. Dealing one or more first-rounders is a huge step, but it won’t mean anything if Philly is unable to sign him to the type of extension he’ll be looking for if the Eagles organization is looking to hold onto him for more than two seasons.