Eagles news: The contracts that led to Philly’s NFL-leading dead-cap hit
Time heals all wounds. So does success. Philadelphia Eagles vice president/general manager Howie Roseman has gone from being public enemy number one in the minds of some to his current status, conquering hero. It’s been a love/hate affair between G.M., fans, and the media at times, but we all learn and grow as we age. Why would we believe that Howie can’t learn from his mistakes? Seemingly, he’s done so and improved at every turn.
Last season drove the point home once and for all. Howie is much better at his job than we would be if we were asked to do it. He most certainly deserves to be trusted, and frankly, we need him to wave that magic wand again as only Howie can get the job done now.
The Philadelphia Eagles lead all NFL teams in dead cap money heading into the 2023 offseason. There are 20 impending free agents, and even though the NFL announced the salary cap will swell to a record $224.8 million per franchise in 2023, there still, seemingly, isn’t enough coin to keep this NFC Championship Game-winning roster together as currently constructed.
Philly voided the contracts of James Bradberry, T.J. Edwards, Javon Hargrave and LB Kyzir White on Monday, February 20th. That adds to what the Birds will already carry in dead money and probably increases the chances that each of those guys will become unrestricted free agents when the new league year begins on March 15th. Let’s dig a little deeper.
Eagles news: Here are the 21 players and salaries that comprise the Eagles’ $46 million dead cap total.
Dead cap money, simply put, applies to the salary cap space every NFL team must allocate to players who have been cut or released prior to their deal ending. It serves as a device used to ensure that every dollar a team has paid players is eventually allocated to that team’s salary cap.
Philly will carry $46,488,912 million in dead cap money during the 2023-2024 season. That’s $17 million more than the next highest total (Las Vegas Raiders, $29,402,499). The Carolina Panthers ($28,593,708), Chicago Bears ($22,468,812), and San Francisco 49ers ($17,085,988) round out the top five. Here’s a breakdown of how that number is divided with Philly (numbers provided by Spotrac).
- Fletcher Cox, $15,359,280
- Javon Hargrave, $11,956,000
- Brandon Brooks, $9,797,237
- James Bradberry, $4,972,000
- Jalen Reagor, $1,802,850
- Kyzir White, $1,172,000
- T.J. Edwards, $711,000
- Davion Taylor, $208,074
- Tarron Jackson, $95,044
- Mac McCain, $30,000
- Carson Strong, $13,334
- Kayode Awosika, $12,500
- Jason Huntley, $12,500
- Jared Mayden, $12,500
- Josh Blackwell, $8,334
- Kennedy Brooks, $6,667
- William Dunkle, $6,667
- Mario Goodrich, $6,667
- Jarrid Williams, $6,667
- Britain Covey, $6,250
- John Hightower, $5,000
That’s a lot to work around, but again, we trust Howie Roseman to get the job done. He’s earned that.
We won’t lie. It’s hard to watch the Eagles draft eight prospects during the 2017 NFL Draft and wake up in 2020 knowing that only two of those guys were still on the roster (Nathan Gerry and Derek Barnett). In 2021, Gerry was gone, and only Barnett remained. Frankly, that didn’t ease any of the tension.
It’s also been hard, at times, to give Howie credit for cleaning up messes he made i.e. salary cap woes that are partially the result of him handcuffing the franchise with extensions that had catastrophic ramifications (Carson Wentz, Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson, and Nelson Agholor among others). Still, we have to be fair.
Howie’s resume speaks for itself, especially recently, and let’s be honest. Every G.M. misses on free agents and draft choices, but he’s long proven that he’s the National Football League’s best general manager. We’ll get through this as always, and Philly will field a formidable roster in 2023.
