In technicality, there is no actual penalty for NFL teams if they are over the salary cap.
Teams have a limit of around $177 million to spend on players in the 2018 season, and the NFL will, presumably, make any transaction that goes over the cam threshhold invalid.
That being said, the Eagles are strapped for cash. Or at least, they were.
Monday the team — and Brandon Brooks — announced that the Pro Bowl guard had agreed to have his contract restructured converting $7.96M of his 2018 salary into bonus, which cleared $6.36M in cap space. Just a few days before that, Nick Foles had a resctucture as well. The Super Bowl MVP was awarded a $2 million signing bonus and can earn up fo $14 million in incentives if he becomes the starter. He also has a “mutual” team option which could have him back in 2019 for $20 million — or he can give back the $2 million signing bonus to become a free agent.
Brooks was more than happy to do his part to provide some of the funds to keep Foles happy in Philadelphia (despite his assumed role as Carson Wentz’ back up again in 2018).
If your wondering about the restructure I get 4 mill now 4mill by sept 1 with a couple hundred thousand over the season. The reason I did it was bc the FUCKIN SB MVP DESERVED MORE MONEY @NickFoles . Love you bro #WhateverItTakes
— Brandon Brooks (@bbrooks_79) April 23, 2018
What about the rest of the savings?
Well, Dez Bryant is available.
The Eagles aren’t particularly in need of a wide receiver, but the former Cowboy who was cuz last week has size and strength and could be a really good fit in an offense like Philadelphia’s. Bryant also, upon leaving Dallas, stated his desire to return twice a year to make his former team regret their decision. Which means an NFC East signing could be on Bryant’s mind.
The Giants recently dropped veteran wide receiver Brandon Marshall, making them a candidate to sign the wideout as well. And the Redskins have quite a bit of cap space remaining should they decide to take Bryant up on his offer.
Regardless, Philadelphia has a little flexibility — which is good. Having the ability to make a large variety of moves on draft day (fast approaching this Thursday) is certainly a smart move for the Eagles front office.
