The Philadelphia Eagles currently have a little over $13 million in actual salary cap spending room for 2012— but that money will be needed to help sign DeSean Jackson, other potential free agents and also rookies to new contracts— not counting any money that may be loosened up by the trading or contractual restructuring of expensive veterans like Asante Samuel ($9.5 million).
Understanding the NFL’s salary cap isn’t always easy, which is why every team has a capologist to crunch the numbers. I don’t pretend to know all the in’s and outs of many of the variables that go into figuring a team’s final salary cap number, such as prorated signing bonuses, performance incentives, backended contracts and the like…
But I understand the basic concept—- the NFL salary cap in 2011 was $120,375,000 “soft”, with teams having the flexibility to borrow $3 million from future years. That means the real cap was $123,375,000.
The salary cap for 2012 has not been set, but it is projected to be between $121-125 million, with teams being able to borrow another $2 million from future caps. Therefore, we’ll safely project the Eagles salary cap to be at $124 million in ’12. But please understand this is an estimation.
Second, keep in mind that teams must preserve at least $5 million to sign their rookie class. The more picks, the more cap space needed.
Where do the Eagles rank in affordable spending for 2012? Here’s a list compiled by Omar Kelly and Shandel Richardson of the Miami Sun Sentinel showing who’s got the dough leftover to spend in 2012 and who’s got to cut make significant cuts in spending:
POSSIBLE BIG SPENDERS
Teams that have the cap space to make big moves in free agency:
Cincinnati Bengals $80,641,237 [currently allocated salary cap dollars]
Tennessee Titans $92,739,765
Washington Redskins $94,351,284
Kansas City Chiefs $95,844,195
Tampa Bay Buccaneers $98,899,458
Atlanta Falcons $100,227,174
Denver Broncos $101,389,121
New England Patriots $101,827,381
Chicago Bears $101,887,741
San Francisco 49ers $102,938,980
Cleveland Browns $103,789,162
WORKING ON A BUDGET
Teams that aren’t up against the cap, but need to make smart moves to avoid trimming a ton of players and salaries:
Jacksonville Jaguars $107,270,274
Buffalo Bills $108,426,522
Seattle Seahawks $111,742,430
San Diego Chargers $111,960,165
New Orleans Saints $113,358,069
Philadelphia Eagles $113,964,694
Baltimore Ravens $115,670,281
Minnesota Vikings $116,078,422
Houston Texans $116,306,676
Miami Dolphins $116,636,173
Indianapolis Colts $116,773,288
Green Bay Packers $118,001,169
Arizona Cardinals $118,787,639
TIGHTENING THE BELT
Teams that will be at, or over the projected salary cap once they’ve signed the rookie class. These teams must purge their roster moving forward. The higher the cap number, the more drastic the cutbacks need to be:
St. Louis Rams $120,982,904
Detroit Lions $122,760,121
New York Giants $124,735,807
New York Jets $128,092,733
Dallas Cowboys $128,910,735
Carolina Panthers $129,962,768
Oakland Raiders $140,861,316
Pittsburgh Steelers $149,885,537
All in all, the Eagles look to be in pretty good shape going forward from their current salary cap status. They’re in that middle group that has the flexibility to do some serious shopping as long as they free up some money by trimming some expendable contracts. And I would expect to see them doing some free-agent window shopping among the teams who are in the “Tightening The Belt” category and in danger of exceeding their caps.
For the record, I like the salary cap in the NFL— it’s what keeps the league fair and competitive.
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