Breer: How the Eagles have circumvented the salary cap the last couple of years

[Chuck 54]

The Cowboys have been doing this for years, which is why they constantly have cap issues.

Dak's contract for example has 4 (yes, four) void contract years (2029-2032) to help them spread out the yearly salary cap hits from his huge contract.

What the Cowboys have not done is to take a year or two to reset their salary cap every so often.

It also doesn't help they have been paying huge cap-impacting contracts to too many players.

The Cowboys had the perfect chance last season to reset their cap by not offering Dak a new contract. Howie would have prepared to move on. Jerry gave in to protect the business.

This isn't about being 4-5 steps ahead of Jerry but rather one team owner (Howie) accepting that every so often, you're going to have a down season or two.

Jerry does not care about winning Super Bowls. He would love them as a bonus of course, but that is not his priority.

Jerry's priority is consistent revenue year over year, maintaining the Cowboys market popularity and, most importantly, increasing the team valuation every year.

It's not about intelligence or "smart" but simply priorities.

Howie's goal is for the Eagles to win Super Bowls. Jerry's goal is for the Cowboys to be popular every year.

Exactly....we were doing it before Roseman. Most teams with cash all do it. We were still paying Terence Newman, Leonard Davis, and Marion Barber after they were no longer on the team. So it goes back quite a bit. The whole idea is simple; push a certain amount forward into the future every year because the salary cap will always go up.

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

I think fans in general overlook the impact of signing bonus money, especially in the case of Dallas. It’s their money and they control it as opposed to being given a budget by a boss.

Signing a guy like Parsons means writing a check for about 80 million dollars. If they hang on to that money for an extra 12-18 months they can make money with that money. Can’t discount that in the eyes of a guy like Stephen who looks to pick quarters off the floor.

Plus dragging it out makes the media ask Jerry about it so he gets extra camera time. Yeah, so…it costs them cap space. It’s a no-brainer trade in their minds.

What else could “I’d rather pay more and get it right” mean on a player there’s no way you’re letting walk?

It’s even crazier than that. What I purposely omitted because it takes many paragraphs of its own is escrow money:

When a team signs a player, let’s say Dak Prescott, it was a contract with 80m$ signing bonus and 231 guaranteed money. What we know is Dallas has to pay out that 80m$ of signing bonus within 30 days of the contract being signed, but what isn’t commonly reported is that Jerry has to fork over almost all of 231m$ before the contract signing is done!

Here’s how it breaks down: of the 231m$, 80m$ is a signing bonus. That leaves 151m$ in guarantees. A team has to prove they have at least most of that money, so when it comes due they don’t default. I believe this is directly a result of the 1980’s USFL implosion: when the league wasn’t making money towards the end, many of the owners couldn’t pay guarantees in player contracts, so they just went unpaid right to the end. Steve Young, Jim Kelly, Reggie White would still be owed money from back then if not for the bankruptcies.

The NFLPA wants a guarantee that can’t ever happen in the NFL. So while Jerry writes that 80m$ check to Dak, he writes another nearly 151m$ check that goes into a special savings account, or escrow, that the league and NFLPA can see. So right now Jerry Jones has hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars sitting in an untouched bank account that accounts for all of Dak’s and all of Ceedee’s and all of Diggs’, etc, etc future bonuses in their contracts.

So as you said, Billionaires don’t normally have this money liquidated to pay players; they need to free it up to do this. A lot of times contract stalling may be the owner waiting to sell stocks at the right price or getting an invest group to buy a minority stake in his oil company or even just taking a mortgage out on some of his properties.

Doesn’t matter how wealthy you are, the more money you have the more it should be making you money. I wouldn’t be surprised if none of these guys have more than 10, 15m$ in free spending money.

Here’s a link that explains some of it:
https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profo...als-from-fully-guaranteeing-kyler-murray-deal

 

[Teague31]

The Jones’ are morons. They would rather be 8-8 for a decade straight and win nothing than have a few tank seasons but also win a few titles

 

[Blitzen]

It worked because they hit on Hurts. Howie is not arrogant enough to think this plan works if Hurts is hobbled or hurt. Let’s remember the reason why they have the team they have now was for in case it Hurts busted they were gonna draft another quarterback. He hits and they are allowed to use it on Carter who fell in the draft because of character issues.

In my opinion, the Eagles hit on many different players-and kept developing and investing in lineman (which Howie is a firm believer-look at most of their draft philosophy). They will take secondary players high if they feel they are true difference makers. They will think creatively about how and when to make pushes for championships (trading a first for AJ Brown). The biggest thing that separates Howie from Jerry is his ability to walk away from a player that is the difference between bad and mediocre-but makes no real difference between mediocre and great. Hurts is good, but that offense is the line and their weapons (which Hurts is a great running weapon currently and needs to stay one if he wants to remain with the team well into his 30’s).

 

[Flamma]

What the eagles did with AJ Brown may be the way to go in the future. They signed him to a 4 year extension, then extended him after year 1 of that extension to another 3 year extension. So the bog water at the end of the first extension is now pretty much blended into a full 6 years of team control

They just did it with Saquon as well, extension on top of his previous big contract after only 1 year

What they did was outstanding. I see it. I pay attention to this. Look at Hurts as well. They're looking to win now. Who cares if at some point they have a year or two down? Rinse and repeat.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

What they did was outstanding. I see it. I pay attention to this. Look at Hurts as well. They're looking to win now. Who cares if at some point they have a year or two down? Rinse and repeat.

I think they are gonna have worse then a year or two down years but I mean I wouldn't care. Especially in the future. If we can sit through 5-11 we certainly can sit for 5-11 a few times after a ring.

 

[CyberB0b]

The Cowboys have been doing this for years, which is why they constantly have cap issues.

Dak's contract for example has 4 (yes, four) void contract years (2029-2032) to help them spread out the yearly salary cap hits from his huge contract.

What the Cowboys have not done is to take a year or two to reset their salary cap every so often.

It also doesn't help they have been paying huge cap-impacting contracts to too many players.

The Cowboys had the perfect chance last season to reset their cap by not offering Dak a new contract. Howie would have prepared to move on. Jerry gave in to protect the business.

This isn't about being 4-5 steps ahead of Jerry but rather one team leader (Howie) accepting that every so often, you're going to have a down season or two.

Jerry does not care about winning Super Bowls. He would love them as a bonus of course, but that is not his priority.

Jerry's priority is consistent revenue year over year, maintaining the Cowboys market popularity and, most importantly, increasing the team valuation every year.

It's not about intelligence or "smart" but simply priorities.

Howie's goal is for the Eagles to win Super Bowls. Jerry's goal is for the Cowboys to be popular every year.

Exactly this.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

In my opinion, the Eagles hit on many different players-and kept developing and investing in lineman (which Howie is a firm believer-look at most of their draft philosophy). They will take secondary players high if they feel they are true difference makers. They will think creatively about how and when to make pushes for championships (trading a first for AJ Brown). The biggest thing that separates Howie from Jerry is his ability to walk away from a player that is the difference between bad and mediocre-but makes no real difference between mediocre and great. Hurts is good, but that offense is the line and their weapons (which Hurts is a great running weapon currently and needs to stay one if he wants to remain with the team well into his 30’s).

What players have walked away or they let walk? The core is still there.

At the end of the day, what separates the Eagles from most teams is that they are great in the trenches on both sides of the ball. That's it. If you are stout on both sides of the line, you will find yourself competing most years. Ravens and Steelers have done it for 20-plus years. When you do that all of a sudden you have less work for your QB and RB and they become dominate. Stout on the defensive line and now all of a sudden your rookie cornerbacks look better and Zack Baun turns into a All Pro. The trenches matter.

 

[fivetwos]

It’s even crazier than that. What I purposely omitted because it takes many paragraphs of its own is escrow money:

When a team signs a player, let’s say Dak Prescott, it was a contract with 80m$ signing bonus and 231 guaranteed money. What we know is Dallas has to pay out that 80m$ of signing bonus within 30 days of the contract being signed, but what isn’t commonly reported is that Jerry has to fork over almost all of 231m$ before the contract signing is done!

Here’s how it breaks down: of the 231m$, 80m$ is a signing bonus. That leaves 151m$ in guarantees. A team has to prove they have at least most of that money, so when it comes due they don’t default. I believe this is directly a result of the 1980’s USFL implosion: when the league wasn’t making money towards the end, many of the owners couldn’t pay guarantees in player contracts, so they just went unpaid right to the end. Steve Young, Jim Kelly, Reggie White would still be owed money from back then if not for the bankruptcies.

The NFLPA wants a guarantee that can’t ever happen in the NFL. So while Jerry writes that 80m$ check to Dak, he writes another nearly 151m$ check that goes into a special savings account, or escrow, that the league and NFLPA can see. So right now Jerry Jones has hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars sitting in an untouched bank account that accounts for all of Dak’s and all of Ceedee’s and all of Diggs’, etc, etc future bonuses in their contracts.

So as you said, Billionaires don’t normally have this money liquidated to pay players; they need to free it up to do this. A lot of times contract stalling may be the owner waiting to sell stocks at the right price or getting an invest group to buy a minority stake in his oil company or even just taking a mortgage out on some of his properties.

Doesn’t matter how wealthy you are, the more money you have the more it should be making you money. I wouldn’t be surprised if none of these guys have more than 10, 15m$ in free spending money.

Here’s a link that explains some of it:
https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profo...als-from-fully-guaranteeing-kyler-murray-deal

Great points. Never even thought of it that deeply but I don’t doubt it. Fans just want to save money vs the cap so they can potentially add more good players.

I also think that the people making the player decisions being so close to the money is a serious conflict of interest. Jerry calls it an advantage but only if you’re them.

 

[CowboyFrog]

The other thing the Eagles do is not deal with any players from Todd France...lol "Your a kicker, get outta here"

 

[Blitzen]

What players have walked away or they let walk? The core is still there.

At the end of the day, what separates the Eagles from most teams is that they are great in the trenches on both sides of the ball. That's it. If you are stout on both sides of the line, you will find yourself competing most years. Ravens and Steelers have done it for 20-plus years. When you do that all of a sudden you have less work for your QB and RB and they become dominate. Stout on the defensive line and now all of a sudden your rookie cornerbacks look better and Zack Baun turns into an All Pro. The trenches matter.

Javon Hargrove, Darius Slay, CJ Gardner-Johnson, Milton Williams, and Josh Sweat are just some recent names I recall. They decided pretty quickly to dump Wentz when they made up their minds. Howie does not typically pay great money to okay/good players. They will make a short term big money deal for those players if they feel they are in immediate SB contention and will be for the life of the contract. If Jalen Carter is a model citizen, they will give him the bag in a year or two. If not, he will get traded to someone that will.

You get no argument from me that the trenches always need to be a major focus. Howie knows which players stir the drink, and Hurts helps the equation with his legs for now. They have a nice mix of weapons currently.

 

[TNCowboy]

Expound on this.

Because you need cash to do it. Lurie had to sell pieces of his team to get the cash to spend $ like they have. Teams like the Bills or Cincinnati would spend themselves cash poor trying to operate like the Eagles are. Most billionaire owners aren't willing to sink a lot of outside $$ into their teams (other than Lurie, who obviously will). NFL teams are cash cows for these guys, not something they throw $$ into.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Javon Hargrove, Darius Slay, CJ Gardner-Johnson, Milton Williams, and Josh Sweat are just some recent names I recall. They decided pretty quickly to dump Wentz when they made up their minds. Howie does not typically pay great money to okay/good players. They will make a short-term big money deal for those players if they feel they are in immediate SB contention and will be for the life of the contract. If Jalen Carter is a model citizen, they will give him the bag in a year or two. If not, he will get traded to someone who will.

You get no argument from me that the trenches always need to be a major focus. Howie knows which players stir the drink, and Hurts helps the equation with his legs for now. They have a nice mix of weapons currently.

I'll concede they are a better front office than Dallas, but you're giving them credit for doing things that most teams, including the Cowboys, do.

They didn't want to pay Hargrave because he was 30. Not because he was "okay or good". Darius Slay respectively has been *** for 3 or so years now....

It's no different than Dallas letting guys like Tyron go, or Chauncey Gholston, or Jourdan Lewis, etc.

Yes, they got rid of Wentz, but got rid of Wentz after giving him a big deal, and once Hurts showed he can be the guy. Plus, Wentz killed the locker room or tried to.

Jalen Carter is on his way to being one of the best players in the league if he keeps this trajectory. He'd never give him up.


None of these moves work, though, without the trenches play. And one thing they have managed to do is find offensive line talent from the 1st to 7th round. That goes a long way.

And even when it comes to Hurts, you keep regulating him to his "legs". I saw that team carve us up last year with Tanner McKee and Kenny Pickett. Hurts is more than his legs. Anthony Richardson is not. Still gotta have the arm talent. Hurts does have that.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Because you need cash to do it. Lurie had to sell pieces of his team to get the cash to spend $ like they have. Teams like the Bills or Cincinnati would spend themselves cash poor trying to operate like the Eagles are. Most billionaire owners aren't willing to sink a lot of outside $$ into their teams (other than Lurie, who obviously will). NFL teams are cash cows for these guys, not something they thrown $$ into.

This is a point that most probably will overlook. Most can't do this type of spending. Even Jerry has to think twice about it as a investor and he knows he will get the money back.

 

[CowboyFrog]

This is a point that most probably will overlook. Most can't do this type of spending. Even Jerry has to think twice about it as a investor and he knows he will get the money back.

This got me looking at what they say the owners are worth, i realized real quick that they seem a little lite...Shiela Ford is worth 2 billion..****, she part of a seperate rich Ford family..lol

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

This got me looking at what they say the owners are worth, i realized real quick that they seem a little lite...Shiela Ford is worth 2 billion..****, she part of a seperate rich Ford family..lol

Damn 2 bili...she's probably considered broke for a Ford lol.

 

[CowboyFrog]

Damn 2 bili...she's probably considered broke for a Ford lol.

lol..right!

 

[TwentyOne]

I'm not saying they are not smarter than Jerry, because the results speak for themselves.

What I'm saying is the void years is not some sort of magic Howie/Eagles-only strategy because the Cowboys and other teams have been doing that for years.

As I said, the main difference is that Howie is willing to reset the cap every so often to avoid getting hamstrung by it where Jerry is more concerned with trying to maintain popularity every single year.

From Jerry's business perspective, fielding a team that loses in the playoffs every year is a better financial strategy than winning a Super Bowl and ultimately having 2+ bad seasons in a row.

Howie would have moved on from Dak when his last contract ended and accepted 2025 may be a down season.

Jerry had no real future QBs on the team last season so he kicked the can down the road to maintain the status quo.

Howie is willing to reset the cap reads and sound nice but needs explaining. How does he reset the cap ?
They guy is doing a lot of stuff right. Its not one decission, there are a lot of little things that add up. You need knowledge and understanding of a system to be able to do that.

You are right with the rest. Still in my opinion JJ is not only about the money. He also tried to field a winner.
He just is not able to and i think both (SJ and JJ) are aware of that. So he/they pushed that priority down his/their list.

And to be honest i think every other good franchise (GM) would have not given Dak even his second contract.

The problem we have is that we dont value the QB position. We dont invest anything in finding replacements/follow ups/new talent. So we maneuver us into a corner without any kind of power when we have to negotiate a new contract with our QB. Its has been that way with Romo and we have been doing it during the Dak are.

 

[CyberB0b]

Because you need cash to do it. Lurie had to sell pieces of his team to get the cash to spend $ like they have. Teams like the Bills or Cincinnati would spend themselves cash poor trying to operate like the Eagles are. Most billionaire owners aren't willing to sink a lot of outside $$ into their teams (other than Lurie, who obviously will). NFL teams are cash cows for these guys, not something they throw $$ into.

The Bills have the least amount of cap space available in the league.

 

[Stash]

I dont know if its being ahead of the Jones clan, as much as it is simply having an owner willing to spend massive amounts of cash to pull this off. Every team knows the tricks to kick cap down the road, but you typically have to pay significant signing bonuses on the front end. The Eagles outspend the Cowboys by about $50M last season, despite the massive cash bonuses the Cowboys paid in extending Lamb and Dak last year.

Now this hasnt always been the case, the Cowboys have had years where they've exceeded Phillys spending, however Philly seems to understand spending more during your windows to win and spending less during your rebuilding phases. The Cowboys like the hang around the rim philosophy that keeps them interesting but rarely true contenders for a super bowl.

I feel that a big part of the problem is that Jerry Jones considers ‘rebuilding’ to be a dirty word.

He’d rather stay ‘close to the rim’ every year rather than pushing all his chips in to capitalize on a window of opportunity and risk that rebuilding.