Philadelphia Eagles: Howie Roseman built a ticking time bomb

The Philadelphia Eagles’ future isn’t all that bright.

How many times have you heard some version of the phrase “Philadelphia Eagles GM Howie Roseman is a salary cap genius”.

A dozen? A hundred?

Since retaking the team’s top executive position following the ousting of Chip Kelly, Roseman has been on a roll. He’s re-signed half a dozen of the Eagles’ top players, reworked other deals to seemingly always find a few extra dollars, and most importantly of all, traded up not once but twice in the 2016 NFL Draft to land franchise quarterback Carson Wentz.

More from Section 215

Under Roseman’s watch, the Eagles have a 38-26 record from 2016-19, the best mark in the NFC East, and quite literally won a Super Bowl. In the eyes of many, that’s enough to buy the homegrown exec and his head coach, Doug Pederson, a lifetime contract to wheel it back forever but here’s the thing, Roseman kinda didn’t do so cleanly.

Granted, Roseman didn’t actually cheat or anything, the Eagles aren’t going to be forfeiting draft picks Patriots style anytime soon. With that in mind, what Roseman did do is actually sort of worse: He mortgaged his team’s future, and championship window, for a shot at immediate success.

As things presently stand, the Eagles have $17 million of their salary cap tied up in paying 11 players who aren’t presently under contract. That’s… a lot. From jettisoned ex-starters like Malcolm Jenkins and Nigel Bradham, to failed draft picks like Sidney Jones and $500,000 committed to paying off Cre’Von LeBlanc‘s first contract before a 24-hour free agency, the Eagles have starting wide receiver money tied up in players who are making other teams better.

But wait, it gets worse.

While the Eagles only have a little under half a million locked up in dead money in 2021, the team is presently in the hole over $66 million in salary cap despite only having 41 players under contract.

Yes, you read that right, the Eagles need to shed over $66 million in cap space and somehow sign a dozen additional players to even field a full, legal 53 man roster. That’s basically insane. The Eagles have 12 contracts with a cap number of $10 million, with Wentz and Fletcher Cox set to account for over $56 million alone.

Now here’s the thing, this isn’t some instant, overly emotional hot take on the heels of a Jekyll-and-Hyde loss to a decidedly non-playoff team. This article will still be relevant in two weeks, two months, and two months into next year, because the 2021 salary cap is what it is.

Sure, there are some small moves the Eagles could conceivably make right now to ease the burden, like trading away Zach Ertz midseason, a move that went from unthinkable to likely in the eyes of many after a fourth down, fourth quarter non-catch, but that’s not going to fix things magically.

No, the Eagles could quite literally trade Wentz and his nine-figure contract to the Patriots and quite literally still be in the tens of millions of dollars in debt with only *checks notes* 40 players under contract next season.

This isn’t the NBA, there aren’t veteran minimum contracts that can be signed regardless of the cap situation. As it presently stands, the Eagles couldn’t even afford to sign their indeterminately sized draft class, unquestionably the easiest way to fill out a team with young, ascending talent.

To make matters worse, it’s not like the Eagles are shaping out to be particularly good this season, as their depth is severely limited due to having $16 million in cap space committed to being rolled over to 2021. With several holes all across the roster, Pederson and company have already had to weave through a no man’s land of injuries leaving players like Jordan Mailata and Nate Herbig in prominent roles (more on that here).

I don’t want to get too negative here, but it’s hard to understate just how intensely disastrous this could all turn out.

Regardless of whether the Eagles win the Super Bowl or go 0-16 this season, the team was always going to look different in 2021. A half dozen or so players from the 2017 season would surely be given their walking papers either via trade or their release and a slew of cheaper options would be given the lofty task of having to fill their shoes on the fly.

This wouldn’t be the worst-case scenario if the Eagles had been filling out their roster with proving young draftees ready to take on a bigger role but since winning the Super Bowl, that really hasn’t been the case.

No, of the Eagles’ Week 1 starters, only five, Jalen Reagor, Dallas Goedert, Jack Driscoll, Josh Sweat, and Avonte Maddox were drafted by the team in 2018 or later. By contrast, the Eagles still have 13 starters left from their Super Bowl run and 11 starters aged 28 or older.

Why does this matter? Because the Eagles’ starting lineup is bloated with older, expensive players without the necessary pipeline of in-house replacements to self-perpetuate a finely tuned roster turnover machine. This discrepancy has forced Roseman and company to pay above and beyond for diminishing talents and trade away future assets for short-term fixes like Jordan Howard and Golden Tate.

Let’s just say GMs don’t typically take backup quarterbacks in the second round of the NFL Draft with players like Kristian Fulton and Jonah Jackson still on the board if they have a clear plan.

Next. Should we be worried about Fletcher Cox?. dark

As unfortunate as it is to say, the Philadelphia Eagles have largely been resting on their laurels since winning the Super Bowl in February 2018. They’ve rewarded hometown heroes with untenable contracts, drafted incredibly poorly, and whiffed on more free agency signings than I care to relay. By attempting to turn a very improbable championship roster lead by a backup quarterback into a long-lasting dynasty, Howie Roseman has effectively turned the Eagles into the Seahawks East and will have to undergo a similar on-the-fly soft reboot to remain relevant a few years removed from being the belle of the NFL’s ball. But hey, you know what they say, if you win a Super Bowl none of that stuff matters, right?

Home/Philadelphia Eagles