If you discount the unrestricted free agents that may or may not be re-signed by the Birds once (or if) the 2011 season begins, the Philadelphia Eagles are in a very healthy “salary cap” situation…
With the NFL offseason presently at a standstill – other than litigation between the parties – the strong possibility still exists that the former NFLPA will be able to gain an injunction prohibiting a lockout by the NFL owners. If this happens, then the offseason “business as usual” will likely commence some time in June or July. At least that’s our hope…
According to Brian McFarland of Eagles 24×7.com , under such a scenario, the NFL owners will be able to impose the rules under which the league would operate. Most reports seem to indicate that it is likely that the NFL would re-impose last year’s “Uncapped Year” rules. This would be the safest course for the league, since any rules they impose will be a basis for an anti-trust claim by the players. However, continuing the rules that the players had agreed to for the previous year (as part of the CBA) would seem to be the owners’ best bet for lessening the impact of that claim.
Those rules, instead of ushering in an era of spending, actually operated to reduce spending and limit the impact of Free Agency in 2010.
The Eagles presently operate under a theoretical salary cap of approximately $140 million… if you add up the salaries of the players with which they are currently in contract, that leaves between $42 million and $58 million of free cap space (depending upon whose estimates you believe are most accurate)…
That leaves a lot of ammunition to sign new players…and extend bigger deals to retain existing players.
As a tribute to our favorite U.K. fan Kent Phil, I researched a website group called the Swagtastic Philadelphia Eagles War Room… this site located at http://www.footballsfuture.com is comprised of many fans from the U.K., where apparently there is a much larger following of Eagles fans than I ever imagined. For some esoteric reason, many British fans of American football are fascinated with the salary cap management issues of their favorite USA teams. Here is the U.K. logo for the Swagtastic fans who follow the Birds:
Not bad, I say…
A host of British accountants and bookkeepers contribute to the discussion boards of this “Swagtastic” club… and they have some truly keen analysis to offer regarding the Eagles’ future spending trends…
Here is their current summary of where we stand with team payroll… (all salary numbers are expressed in terms of “Million Dollars”… the British fans like to use percentages of “Million” —such as saying “0.475 million”, as opposed to saying $475,000)….
Eagles FFMD 2011 Roster & Salary Info for current players still under 2011 contract:
QB
Mike Kafka 0.405
Kevin Kolb 1.392
Michael Vick 17.09
RB
LeSean McCoy 0.480
FB
Leonard Weaver 2.5
Owen Schmitt 0.555
WR
Jason Avant 1.25
Riley Cooper 0.405
Chad Hall 0.405
DeSean Jackson 0.565
Jeremy Maclin 3.1
TE
Brent Celek 1.215
Clay Harbor 0.405
OL
King Dunlap 0.555
Todd Herremans 1.9
Austin Howard 0.405
Jamaal Jackson 0.925
Winston Justice 2.7
Mike McGlynn 0.555
Jason Peters 11.5
DL
Trent Cole 2.9
Brandon Graham 4.4
Juqua Parker 3.5
Ricky Sapp .405
Darryl Tapp 2.25
Daniel Te’o-Nesheim 0.405
Brodrick Bunkley 0.635
Jeremy Clark 0.480
Antonio Dixon 0.395
Trevor Laws 0.555
Jeff Owens 0.405
Mike Patterson 1.4
LB
Jamar Chaney 0.405
Keenan Clayton 0.405
Moise Fokou 0.480
DB
Jamar Adams 0.405
Jorrick Calvin 0.405
Joselio Hanson 1.68
Brandon Hughes 0.405
Gerard Lawson 0.48
Trevard Lindley 0.405
Isiah Trufant 0.333
Asante Samuel 5.9
Jamar Wall 0.405
Nate Allen 0.405
Colt Anderson 0.405
Kurt Coleman 0.405
Marlin Jackson 2.0
ST
Jon Dorenbos 0.8
And of course, we will budget for the traditional 1st-year salary cap considerations for the Eagles’ top draft picks:
Draft Picks
Round 1 Pick 23 …………….$1,800,000
Round 2 Pick 54 ………………$665,000
Round 3 Pick 85 ………………$515,000
Round 4 Pick 103 ……………. $420,000
Round 4 Pick 119……………. $340,000
There are a lot of players who do not appear on the list above because of technically not being under actual salary-cap-counting contract for 2011 at this time. I’m thinking of guys like Cornelius Ingram and other Practice Squad players; and veterans like— David Akers; Sav Rocca; Jerome Harrison; Reggie Wells; Nick Cole; Akeem Jordan; Bobby McCray; Omar Gaither; Max Jean-Gilles; Vic Abiamiri; Stewart Bradley; Dimitri Patterson; Ernie Sims; Quintin Mikell; Rashad Jeanty; Phillip Hunt; Eldra Buckley… You can bet some of these guys are going to be signed or re-signed for significant increases…and some will be released as free agents.
And some of the guys who appear on the 2011 salary cap list at the top— like Marlin Anderson, Leonard Weaver, and IsiahTrufant, to name a few, may very well end up being waived on account of injury-related disabilities or other factors…
So this is not an exact science.
But even Eagles fans in England know we have a lot of “salary cap” room to work with in 2011…even if there is no official “salary cap” per se… with an estimated “cap remaining” of between $42 and $58 million.
Which convinces me the Eagles can load up in free agency when the time comes…if they want to.
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