The Eagles Have to Maintain the NFL’s Most Complete Roster

The Eagles face a series of critical salary-cap decisions.

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Nick Foles #9 of the Philadelphia Eagles discusses play with teammates. (Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
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After the Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII, everyone assumed their reign had just begun. They had a great team, their quarterback had finished the second season of a four-year contract, and the defensive core were all age 25 or younger. Their run during those post-championship years was undeniably impressive, and thanks to a savvy talent-retention approach that involved locking up key contributors before they came close to hitting the open market, the Seahawks were able to hang on to almost all their stars as they came off their rookie contracts. This experience made it clear though that maintaining a loaded roster as players cash in becomes a high-wire act for even the most forward-thinking franchises. Enter the Eagles. From top to bottom, the Eagles boasted the NFL’s most stacked roster last season. They overcame multiple injuries to beat the Patriots in Super Bowl LII. But as executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman and the rest of the front office settling into the next month or so, their task will be figuring out how to maintain the majority of that roster as Philly gears up for its first title defense. According to Over the Cap, Philly is about $9.7 million over the cap. They do have a recourse to get things back on track, it’s just a matter of moving money around and trimming the edges of the roster to conserve cash. They might have to decline the option on receiver Torrey Smith, which would save the Eagles $5 million against the cap with no dead money. Left tackle Jason Peters is on the books for close to $10.7 million in 2018, so there is the possibility the Eagles will at least ask the aging star to take a pay cut. The team is poised to be an NFC power player for years to come, but keeping the group that carried a banged-up team to a Super Bowl win intact is far from a given, writes The Ringer. Assembling the most complete roster in the NFL is already a challenge, but maintaining it, that’s even harder.

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