As the Eagles continue their march toward the opening of free agency, they have been chipping away at their salary cap situation along the way.
The fact that the Eagles no longer needed to rework Lane Johnson’s deal shows they’re pretty confident that they’re in a good position.
Coming into Monday, the Eagles were still $17,263,129 over their adjusted cap but that figure doesn’t include the reported restructure of Brandon Brooks contract.
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The league-wide cap this year is $182.5 million but the Eagles carried over $22,756,775 from last year to give them an adjusted cap number of $206,998,775. Right now, they have $224,261,904 tied up in their top 51 contracts (that’s what counts during the offseason) which is how we get to the Eagles’ being $17.3 million over.
That $17.3 million figure does include the restructured contracts of Javon Hargrave and Isaac Seumalo, two maneuvers that saved the Eagles $11,816,000 in salary cap space for the 2021 season, according to a league source.
Here’s a closer look at both:
Javon Hargrave
NFL
The Eagles converted most of Hargrave’s original base salary for the 2021 season into a fully guaranteed roster bonus. That $11.76 million figure then acts like a signing bonus and prorates over the length of his contract. Hargrave is under contract through the end of the 2022 season but the Eagles added another dummy year in 2025; he already had two on his original contract. So that $11.76 figure prorates over the next five seasons.
Here’s how it shakes out this year:
Original 2021 base salary: $12,750,000
Original 2021 cap hit: $15,200,000
New 2021 base salary: $990,000
New 2021 cap hit: $5,792,000
Cap savings: $9,408,000
The 2023-25 years on his contract automatically void and if Hargrave simply plays out his remaining two years on the deal, he’ll leave a dead cap hit of $11,956,000 in the 2023 season. But Hargrave is still just 28 and if he plays well the next two years, there’s a chance the Eagles could try to extend him.
Isaac Seumalo
The Eagles did the same with Seumalo’s contract but just on a smaller scale. They converted most of his base salary ($3.01 million) to a roster bonus. That brought down his cap hit in 2021 by spreading it out:
Original 2021 base salary: $4,000,000
Original 2021 cap hit: $5,416,000
New 2021 base salary: $990,000
New 2021 cap hit: $3,008,000
Cap savings: $2,408,000
There are also three dummy (voidable) years on Seumalo’s contract as well. If he plays out the next two seasons, he’ll leave a dead money figure of $3,838,000 in 2023. But like Hargrave, Seumalo is still young (just 27) and the Eagles might try to extend him before that contract runs out.
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