According to a recent from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the NFL and the NFLPA have had preliminary negotiations regarding the 2021 salary cap, and some believe that cap number will end up being higher than originally expected.
The NFL salary cap has been gradually increasing for several years, but 2021 was expected to be the first year in some time to see a significant decrease after a 2020 season that saw very few fans in the stands. Here is what Pelissero had to say about the projected 2021 salary cap in his report:
The NFL and NFLPA began preliminary negotiations last month on the 2021 salary cap. Some team officials believe (and surely hope) the cap will ultimately land closer to $185 million per club — if not a little higher — than the $175 million minimum the sides agreed to last summer as they braced for empty and mostly empty stadiums.
The league didn’t provide clubs with its annual cap projection at the delayed labor seminar Tuesday, nor has it committed to exactly how to spread the impact of an unprecedented multibillion-dollar revenue shortfall in 2020 over the next few years. (Each year’s cap is based on revenue projections for the following season, as well as a “true-up” from the prior year projection. Had the sides not agreed to the $175 million floor for 2021 as part of an overall package on COVID-related economic matters, spreading this year’s shortfall into future years, the cap would have plummeted much further from this season’s $198.2 million per club.)
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt told reporters this week the final number may not be set until “hours before the start of the league year” March 17. More realistically, teams may find out the number just days before the free-agent negotiating period begins March 15, with the league and union taking all the time possible to assess the climate and budget for the impact of at least one new media deal, which must be finalized before the NFL makes the expected move to a 17-game regular season in 2021.
How this affects the Eagles
As things currently stand, the Eagles are projected to be more than $50 million over the estimated salary cap for 2021. If the salary cap were to drop all the way down to $175 million, that number would be closer to $80 million. So, general manager Howie Roseman and the front office obviously have a lot at stake here.
That $50 million number isn’t as daunting as many have made it out to be, but it still isn’t ideal. For starters, the Eagles are expected to carry over more than $22 million in cap space from 2020. That doesn’t fix their situation, but it’s a good start. Malik Jackson, DeSean Jackson, and Alshon Jeffery are all pretty much gone, and that’ll clear at least another $15 million, if not more depending on how some recent restructures look.
Zach Ertz is a trade candidate. That’s another $8 million or so freed up. After that, Roseman will probably go the restructure route with players like Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Lane Johnson, Javon Hargrave, Brandon Brooks, and/or Darius Slay. So, it won’t be easy, but it can and will be done, and the Eagles will have money to spend in free agency.
The Carson Wentz situation is another question mark. He is on the books for more than $34 million in 2021, and a trade (unless there is some kind of restructuring agreed to beforehand) would result in the Eagles eating most of that number on the 2021 cap. Once upon a time, Wentz was an ideal restructure candidate to free up money for 2021, and it’s likely that was something Roseman was banking on.
Now, it’s far from a lock that Wentz is back in 2021, and the final salary cap number that the NFL and NFLPA land on will go a long way in determining just how the Eagles will be able to fill out their roster during this offseason.
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Mike Maher is the editor and publisher of The Birds Blitz. Follow him on Twitter @mikeMaher and @TheBirdsBlitz and check out his archive for all of his latest stories about the Eagles and the NFL.
