It’s been a busy day for the Philadelphia Eagles. Some major contract restructurings were negotiated in what appeared to be an attempt to reduce the $ 40 million debt they have to pay just to balance the off-season. However, a recent extension of Jason Kelce’s contract highlights the flaw in Howie Roseman’s methods.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving Jason Kelce the payment he deserves, especially when he has surrendered to benefit the team on several occasions. This is not a disregard for the value Kelce will bring to the Eagles in 2021 or the incredible player / person he is. However, when it comes to Howie Roseman, concerns quickly escalate.
For those who pay close attention to the eagles in the off-season, this move would be a surprise. Jason Kelce was already in the books for 2021. He didn’t need a restructuring of the contract based on face value. It would cost the Eagles only $ 4 million in capitalization space and, save for a surprise retirement, it seemed almost certain that he would play below that price. Upon closer inspection, however, it is easy to see why Roseman stumbled upon a new deal.
Howie Roseman’s method of overcoming salary cap restrictions has long resembled a credit card. Roseman would ‘borrow’ money using loopholes to push big bucks into ‘fictional years’. When the time came to pay that player, he would ask others to do the same, essentially paying a credit card using another credit card. Over time, it all starts to add up.
Even with Carson Wentz out of the books (and before this week’s moves), the Eagles came in last in the projected space for 2022. They are in 30th place in 2023 and it is not as if the situation has become less worrying as time goes by. time.
When he restructured his business in 2019, Kelce stealthily received nullable years in his contract. All of this culminated in an extra nullable year that would still carry $ 15 million in dead limit. The new contract given to Kelce today presumably took about $ 12M from that success and brought him into this season. That sounds smart … until you look at the repercussions.
Prior to today’s restructuring, Lane Johnson’s business was already full of fictional years and prorated bonuses. He is technically in the books for a maximum success of $ 21 million in 2028. He would be 38 years old. We can assume that the scary total will only increase after today.
Obviously, it will never get to the point where the Eagles are paying him so much, but eventually, Johnson will want the money he keeps putting off to help the team … and that’s the problem. At some point, Lane Johnson will have a very cheap year that will suddenly become incredibly expensive if the deck goes down in a certain way, as do several other players on the squad.
The Eagles are at a ‘re-tool’ stage where, this week, they were $ 40 million over the limit. They could easily fall below the total by making some more aggressive moves. Separating from Derek Barnett, for example, would free up $ 10 million. Cutting Marquise Goodwin would earn them another $ 4 million. Zach Ertz and Malik Jackson are also obvious candidates for an early exit. While that can still happen, Roseman is currently using the same methods to buy short-term flexibility for the Eagles, but, as we have seen, it cannot work forever.
What brought the Eagles here in the first place was a concerted effort to push the boundary to an advantage. In a year when they need as much capital as possible just to equalize, transferring even more money to 2022 makes little sense.
Dallas Goedert, Jordan Mailata and Alex Singleton are all moving into the next off-season and could receive a significant payment if their development continues.
It’s great that the Eagles are finding immediate relief at the limit, but rebuilding could be accelerated much more if they just pulled out the big savings by cutting ties with players who carry big strokes with no intrinsic value. If they’re really only a few pieces away from fighting at NFC East (laughs), putting even more money into the business pot that has already been restructured will only limit what the Eagles can do for the next 2-3 seasons.
Establishing a firm foundation from which to build is extremely important, but so is ensuring your future. This worked in 2016, but since then, all ‘cornerstone’ contracts have been exiled or restructured and extended to a point of colossal and imminent boundary strikes that continue to be reorganized.
What Roseman insists on doing is putting the franchise’s long-term future at risk by borrowing more and more leverage, in the hope that the head or back of late deals will fall in his favor. With each one that needs adjustment, there is another indirect effect that requires an action similar to another contract.
The Eagles had a real opportunity to prevent the wheels from turning in the off-season, restarting the game and building from scratch. By continuing to use the same methods of maintaining the net salary cap, all Roseman is really doing is prolonging the inevitable. He is increasing the size of the task that will need to be carried out to do exactly the same in the next year.
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