For the first time since 2016, the Eagles will go into the new league year with money to spend in free agency.
That year, the Eagles spent lavishly to sign safety Rodney McLeod and right guard Brandon Brooks, who became key components of the Super Bowl team in 2017.
That likely won’t be the case this year, but the Eagles do have the ability to add key players. They are currently $17.3 million under the salary cap, which is set at $208.2 million.
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The Eagles can free up significantly more money by releasing some players and restructuring contracts for some others.
So with free agency unofficially beginning Monday before the start of the new league year on Wednesday, here are the Eagles’ objectives:
1. Restructure Jason Kelce’s contract
Jason Kelce announced in a Twitter post Thursday evening that he will return to the Eagles as he tapped the keg of beer that head coach Nick Sirianni sent him.
It wasn’t a surprise, and it’s expected that Kelce agreed to restructure his contract, both to lighten the Eagles’ salary cap hit for 2022 – it was supposed to be $6.5 million – and to most likely guarantee another year.
Kelce wasn’t signed beyond this season, but he was still scheduled to count $10.6 million against the 2023 cap because of a previous restructure. That will likely add to Kelce’s salary cap hit in 2024.
Yes, the Eagles are kicking the proverbial can down the road, but Kelce, coming off his fourth Pro Bowl season, is worth it.
2. Other restructures
It’s also possible that the Eagles will restructure the contracts of defensive tackle Javon Hargrave and cornerback Darius Slay, both of whom are coming off Pro Bowl seasons.
Slay has the biggest cap hit on the Eagles in 2022, at $22 million, while Hargrave, coming off a career-high 7.5 sacks, is second at $17.8 million.
Hargrave is entering the final year of his contract, so restructuring while guaranteeing another year makes sense. Slay, meanwhile, is more of a risk because he’s 31 years old, and already counts $23 million on the cap in 2023.
By guaranteeing another year, Slay will have a steep cap hit in 2024, when he’s 33. It still might be worth the risk.
3. Trade Fletcher Cox, Andre Dillard
Cox is Exhibit A about what eventually happens when you keep restructuring a top player.
Cox, 31, has had only 3.5 sacks in two of the last three seasons, but his salary cap hit is $14.9 million this year, $12.7 million in 2023 and $16.9 in 2024.
By trading Cox, the Eagles will have to absorb $25 million in dead money this year, but then they’ll be free from his contract.
The Eagles did this last year with Carson Wentz, absorbing an NFL record $34.7 million dead money hit. Wentz is now off their books.
The Eagles likely won’t get much in return for Cox. But with Hargrave, Milton Williams and the chance to add a defensive tackle in the early rounds of the draft and/or free agency, they should still be in good shape in the middle of the defensive line.
As for Dillard, the Eagles’ 2019 first-round pick only carries a $3.9 million cap hit this season. But the Eagles have to decide whether or not to pick up his fifth-year option by May 2.
If they do, Dillard will count about $12 million on the cap in 2023, a big salary for a non-starter. So that’s not likely.
If they don’t pick up the option, Dillard can become a free agent after this season, and the Eagles won’t get anything in return.
So the time to trade Dillard is now, especially with several teams needing starting-caliber offensive linemen. And yes, Dillard qualifies.
4. Pursue this WR, S in free agency
It has been well documented that the Eagles could use a veteran free agent at wide receiver and at safety, assuming they don’t bring back McLeod or Anthony Harris.
But it’s also likely that they’re not going to break the bank, either. Many of the top wide receivers never made it to free agency, and the Eagles won’t win a bidding war for Dallas’ Amari Cooper or Chicago’s Allen Robinson.
It’s more likely that the Eagles will use a draft pick on a receiver and go after a lower-cost free agent like Pittsburgh’s JuJu Smith-Schuster, who’s coming off a season-ending shoulder injury, or Indianapolis’ Zach Pascal. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was the Colts’ offensive coordinator from 2018-20, so he knows Pascal well.
It’s the same at safety, both via the draft and free agency.
The Saints’ Marcus Williams, the Chiefs’ Tyrann Mathieu and Washington’s Landon Collins are likely out of the Eagles’ price range.
But someone like the Seahawks’ Quandre Diggs, a former teammate of Slay’s in Detroit, or the Jets’ Marcus Maye, who missed most of last season with a torn Achilles, might be in their range.
5. What about a Zach Ertz return?
I was always struck by something Ertz said last October, when the Eagles traded him to the Arizona Cardinals. He left just 12 receptions short of breaking Harold Carmichael’s record as the Eagles’ all-time leading receiver.
“If you told me that coming into the league that I would be second all-time in this great organization’s history, it would have been unbelievable achievement in my eyes,” Ertz said. “Maybe I’ll come back and get 12 catches and Harold can go to No. 2.”
It just so happens that Ertz is a free agent after finishing last season with the Cardinals, for whom Ertz had 56 catches for 574 yards and 3 touchdowns in 11 games.
But that probably won’t happen this year. Ertz is considered one of the top free agent tight ends, and he’d likely get more money than the Eagles would be willing to pay.
Again, a low-cost veteran could be the solution for the Eagles, who have a star in Dallas Goedert, and two young players behind him in Jack Stoll and Tyree Jackson, although Jackson is recovering from a torn ACL.
But it could happen in 2-3 years when Ertz might want to finish out his career with the Eagles, and set the record.
6. Keep an eye out for this DE native
The Eagles haven’t spent big for a linebacker in free agency in years.
That won’t change this year, even though ex-Eagle Jordan Hicks of the Cardinals and Seattle’s Bobby Wagner have been recently released.
Instead, the Eagles could draft a linebacker in the first round, then add someone like Salesianum and University of Delaware star Troy Reeder. It was reported that the Rams won’t tender a restricted free agent contract to Reeder, who started 10 games for the Super Bowl champions this past season, with 91 tackles and 2 sacks.
That will make him an unrestricted free agent.
Reeder has the same type of resume as Eagles linebacker Alex Singleton, who’s also a restricted free agent.
The Eagles likely won’t tender Singleton, who’s also not expected to start in 2022 despite his team-high 137 tackles last season. Reeder, like Singleton, can provide depth and special teams help.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
