Philadelphia Eagles: Marquise Goodwin opting out is a blessing in disguise

Marquise Goodwin could help the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021.

When Marquise Goodwin opted to sit out for the 2020 NFL season to stay at home with his brother and family, it left the Philadelphia Eagles in a bit of a pickle.

Sure, the team still has a ton of wide receivers under contract, seven with a legit chance to make the final roster to be exact, but all wide receivers aren’t created equal. If Alshon Jeffery remains on the PUP list to start the regular season, the Eagles could enter Week 1 with a seriously inexperienced receiving corps.

However, when one door closes, another opens, and by opting out of the 2020 season, Goodwin has deceptively given the Eagles one heck of a consolation prize for the 2021 season.

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You see, by deciding to opt out of the forthcoming season, Goodwin will receive his 2020 roster and workout bonuses, worth $50,000, and $150,000 of his $1.35 million base salary. Once the 2021 season opens up, Goodwin’s contract will resume and he will earn the remainder of his contract’s value, save any preseason bonuses that were already paid out.

In layman’s terms, by opting out of the 2020 season, Goodwin’s one-year contract will now be split over two.

But, you may ask, why is this important? Well, because DeSean Jackson very well may not be back with the Birds next fall, at least not at his projected cap number ($10.9 million). While some, like PFF, have suggested that Jackson could be a cap casualty in 2020 based on his advanced age, expensive contract, and redundant set of skills, the absence of Goodwin makes that a tad unlikely. With that being said, 2021 is a completely different story, as the Eagles’ current stable of young wide receivers will have a full season of experience under their collective belts.

If Jalen Reagor, John Hightower, or Quez Watkins are able to differentiate themselves from the pack to become the Birds’ next great deep threat, then retaining the 30-year-old speedster may not be as valuable, but the Eagles clearly valued Goodwin enough to trade for him after already selecting Reagor and Hightower in the first and fifth-round respectively, so clearly there was some sort of plan for his services.

As you probably already know, the Eagles are in pretty dire straits financially for the 2021 season, with $51 million over the projected $215 million cap number already on the books. While Howie Roseman can surely work some cap magic to restructure deals to free up cap space in the short-term, the team is going to have to move on from a few stalwart veterans to get their financial situation right. If you believe WIP’s Joe Giglio, that player could be Carson Wentz, but let’s be honest, it’s not going to be Carson Wentz. If Jackson falters in 2020, or simply loses a step, it’s hard to imagine the Eagles keeping him around for his 14th NFL season unless he’s willing to take a serious hometown discount.

Alternatively, Jackson could have a fantastic year, and retaining Goodwin could become the unnecessarily luxury, allowing the Eagles to simply cut bait and ship him out of town for a future pick for a better fitting player.

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Ultimately, you never want to see a player have to step away from the game they love for any reason, but in Marquise Goodwin’s case, it’s hard to hold any ill-will towards a young father wanting to maintain the health of his infant daughter. While his presence will certainly be missed this fall, rolling his contract over to 2021 could actually hold deceptive value for a Philadelphia Eagles squad with very few names etched in permanent ink on their wide receiver depth chart.

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