The Philadelphia Eagles haven’t shied away from dead money; they’ve embraced it for years. GM Howie Roseman has turned the “dead cap” part of NFL contracts into a feature, not a flaw. The strategy combines owner Jeff Lurie’s management of cash (escrow) with creative cap-structuring. This approach has enabled the Eagles to reshape their franchise and possibly provided a blueprint for other teams to operate within the NFL’s salary cap.
The Eagles consistently lead the league in dead cap spending, averaging roughly $ 60 million annually since 2021. The figures change some every year due to extensions, cuts, or restructurings, but it’s worth noting that this is not poor accounting; it’s by design from Philadelphia’s front office.
One of Roseman’s strategies has been to add non-playing years to the end of a contract, effectively spreading the signing bonus money over a longer period for salary cap purposes. The contract might “void” after one or two actual seasons of play, but the accounting lingers. Many have described this as kicking the can down the road; however, the Eagles view it differently.
James Bradberry’s 2022 deal is an example. The contract appears to be a one-year, $7.25 million agreement when viewed without further context; however, with void years included, the Eagles were able to prorate his signing bonus over five years, resulting in $2.278 million in 2022.
The current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) provides teams with the flexibility to manage their salary cap; however, some view what the Eagles have done as an exploitation of a loophole. The league may look into removing this due to their success; more on that later.
If you’ve ever used a service like Affirm to buy something now and pay later without interest — and who hasn’t — you’re familiar with the principle. In the NFL, teams aren’t taking loans, but they are deferring the money and accounting for it in future years.
And what makes it even better, unlike consumer credit, there’s no interest. Since the NFL salary cap almost always rises (barring a global pandemic), today’s dollars become cheaper tomorrow.
Example: A $10 million cap hit on a $200 million cap is 5%. If deferred to a year when the cap rises to $250 million, that same $10 million is just 4% of the cap. That 1% shift frees up $2.5 million in today’s space. Do that across multiple contracts and you’ve gained significant cap dollars to use in the current-year cap year.
This refers to guaranteed money that remains against the team’s cap even after a player is released or traded. This has traditionally been viewed as a liability, but the Eagles have transformed it into a competitive advantage.
In many cases, when a player is cut, the remaining prorated signing bonus money accelerates onto the current year’s cap. However, thanks to a post-June 1st designation rule, teams are allowed to spread this hit over two seasons, lessening the short-term cap hit. Teams can use this designation on two players per offseason.
So, the Eagles may lead the league in dead money, but it’s not due to poor planning; it’s a strategy to create current flexibility.
Signing bonuses refer to the guaranteed lump sums paid to players upon signing a contract, hence the name. From a salary cap perspective, those bonuses can be spread over up to five years, even though the player receives the money up front. Win, win!
Example: A player signs a five-year deal with a $20 million bonus; only $4 million counts against the cap each year if teams choose to do so. If the player is released early, any remaining prorated bonus money accelerates, unless the team uses the aforementioned post-June first option.
If a player signs an extension, the new signing bonus is prorated across the new contract years, while any previous bonus prorations remain tied to the original deal years.
Player incentives also influence cap management, and they come in two forms:
Likely To Be Earned (LTBE): Based on achievements, the player met the previous year's requirements. These count against the cap immediately.
Not Likely To Be Earned (NLTBE): Based on performance, the player didn’t achieve last year. These do not count against the cap unless the player actually earns them.
If an LTBE incentive isn’t met, the team gets that money back in the next year’s cap as a credit. If a player exceeds expectations and earns an NLTBE incentive, it counts against the following year’s cap.
Under the current CBA, players receive 48% of league revenues. This drives the annual salary cap number. I have been told that the 48% is after the league deducts approximately $1 billion for league operating expenses and before retired players' benefits are paid, which analysts estimate leaves roughly 40% of the revenue.
The team salary cap is calculated as the base salary cap plus any carryover from the previous year, plus any necessary adjustments (such as fines, incentives, grievances, etc.).
Available cap space is the team's salary cap minus the value of active contracts and dead money.
Each team must spend at least 89% of the salary cap in cash on player salaries, averaged over a four-year period, while the league as a whole must spend 95% of the salary cap in cash on player salaries, also averaged over four years. If either threshold isn’t met, the shortfall must be paid directly to the players from that period.
These rules are in place to encourage competitive balance and prevent teams from indefinitely stockpiling cash. This is one of the reasons why the NFL has had a lot of parody compared to other major sports.
The Eagles’ cap situation might look messy, confusing, and unsustainable to some, but under Howie Roseman, it’s intentional and designed to unlock roster flexibility. It has allowed them to sign star players in the league, such as AJ Brown. It has also allowed the franchise to extend the number of years its Super Bowl window can remain open. That, combined with solid draft picks that continually stack the deck, has the Eagles as one of the best teams in the league over the last few seasons.
Some teams avoid dead money and the void years, though more seem to be embracing them lately; the Eagles use them to their advantage. It’s not just cap gymnastics; it’s a philosophy to improve the team by all means available. And unless the league rewrites the rules, which NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has hinted at, Philadelphia will continue to see the cap not as a barrier, but as an opportunity.
As always, thank you for reading!
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