Fresh off a Super Bowl title, the Philadelphia Eagles immediately turned their focus to the future this offseason.
Philly essentially traded their high-priced free agents, like Josh Sweat and Milton Williams, for 2026 compensatory picks. They slashed additional salary by cutting ties with veteran starters like C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Darius Slay Jr., and doubled down by signing zero multi-year contracts with players from outside the organization.
As a result, the Eagles have north of $30 million in salary cap space for the 2025 season. Considering the recent mega extensions handed out this week by the New York Jets, it would behoove GM Howie Roseman and company to let the majority of that $30 million carry over to next year’s books (and beyond).
The Jets took a page from Roseman’s playbook this week by paying two of their most prominent players early. A day after the team agreed to a four-year, $130 million extension with wide receiver Garrett Wilson, the Jets locked up cornerback Sauce Gardner Tuesday with a four-year, $120.4 million deal of his own that includes a whopping $86.4 million in guarantees.
Wilson’s new contract, which was announced on Monday, is a nod to the forward thinking of Roseman and the Eagles’ organization. Philadelphia signed receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith to extensions prior to the 2024 season, and both players remain inside the top 15 highest-paid at their position, with Brown ranking sixth and Smith 13th in average annual value.
The key number here is Gardner’s $120 million, as the Eagles are almost certainly planning for their own future negotiations with star cornerbacks Quinshon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. As 2024 draft selections, Mitchell and DeJean won’t become extension eligible until 2027, but those deals figure to be massive when the time comes, and Philly still has to make a decision on safety Reed Blankenship’s expiring contract this season, and DT Jalen Carter’s upcoming mega deal, which could come as soon as 2026.
The Eagles have become the standard for paying their players early, which has led to a drama-free summer devoid of any public disputes. We can’t say the same about the rest of the NFC East, as Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin recently vented some frustration over his extension talks with the team, and Cowboys EDGE Micah Parsons could be an extremely expensive camp holdout himself as owner Jerry Jones and crew waited until the last minute (per usual) to sign arguably their most important player to a long-term deal.
The Eagles could still have some mini drama at the start of camp. Blankenship could attempt to kick-start negotiations by holding out — although, that’s purely speculation at this point. Second-round rookie Andrew Mukuba still hasn’t signed his rookie deal as his camp works to iron out the language around guaranteed money, so he could be missing in action next week if the two sides can’t come to an agreement.
Philly has done an admirable job of locking up its top offensive stars, with Brown, Smith, QB Jalen Hurts, RB Saquon Barkley and just about the entire starting offensive line currently under contract for multiple years to come. It will soon come time to do the same on defense, and when you start crunching the numbers, the Eagles’ budget-friendly approach to 2025 makes more and more sense.
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