Getty The Philadelphia Eagles may not be done adding to their roster after trading for defensive end Robert Quinn
Many of the reactions to the Philadelphia Eagles trading a fourth round pick to the Chicago Bears for All-Pro defensive end Robert Quinn include the words “all-in.” The thing is, the Eagles quite literally have not gone all-in yet, no matter how much scouts rave about their roster.
One key aspect of the Quinn trade makes it clear the Eagles wanted to preserve the option to make another move. The Bears are picking up most of Quinn’s remaining salary this year, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.
Teams don’t do that for free, so that likely cost the Eagles something in the trade. Perhaps it was in lieu of a late-round pick coming back, or the Eagles giving up less in the deal. Everyone who follows the Eagles knows general manager Howie Roseman loves his draft capital, and owner Jeffrey Lurie is willing to spend up to the cap.
Quinn’s contract has about $7.8 million in base salary this year, and the Eagles have about $10.3 million in cap space according to Spotrac. That means the Eagles could have easily afforded to fit Quinn’s contract under the salary cap.
The Eagles wanted that cap space for a reason. The question now is what comes next?
There appear to be two likely options.
Option 1: Howie Roseman Wants to Make Another Trade
The Bears are picking up $7.1 million of Quinn’s contract this season, according to Albert Breer of MMQB.
Source: The Bears are picking $7.1 million of DE Robert Quinn’s remaining salary for the season. That means the Eagles will pay him a little more than $700K (the vet minimum) for the rest of the year.
That means the Eagles preserved somewhere around $9.6 million of cap space, according to Spotrac’s numbers. If that’s earmarked for a trade, then the question becomes who is available that would require that much cap space this year?
That’s quite a puzzle.
One of the first names that comes to mind is Browns running back Kareem Hunt, who has frequently been linked to the Eagles. At first glance, his $6.25 million in compensation this year fits the bill. However, Hunt received $4.9 million of his 2022 compensation in the form of an offseason roster bonus, according to both Spotrac and Over the Cap.
As a result, any team acquiring Hunt is only on the hook for $1.35 million against this year’s cap. While that doesn’t mean the Eagles can’t acquire Hunt, they would have been able to fit both Quinn’s salary and Hunt’s under the cap.
That is, unless the Eagles are interested in acquiring Hunt as more than a playoff rental and actually paying the running back the market rate – but the Eagles rarely invest significant financial resources in the position.
Cardinals tight end Zach Ertz is another name that has been mentioned for the Eagles to add depth behind Dallas Goedert, but he would only cost the Birds about $2.7 million the rest of this season according to Spotrac.
That leaves two positions that could possibly make sense to trade for, that would also warrant that steep of a salary: wide receiver and edge rusher. That’s right, the Eagles may not be done adding to their pass rush.
Perhaps they’re still in the hunt for Brian Burns or Bradley Chubb, both of whom would be in line for a contract extension that could easily cost in the neighborhood of $10 million this year.
While that would give the Eagles a glut of pass rushers this year, a 34-year-old Brandon Graham and 32-year-old Robert Quinn are not part of the long-term plans at the position.
Who’s going to be anchoring the Eagles defensive end rotation the next few years? The fact that there’s no answer to that question means that it’s feasible the Eagles still aren’t done at the position.
Last but not least is wide receiver. The Eagles could make sense for Jerry Jeudy, Brandin Cooks, or D.J. Moore according to Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano. However, Jeudy only has one more year left on his contract and will need an extension after next season.
It’s hard to imagine the Eagles paying A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Jeudy all at once. Meanwhile, Cooks ($18 million) and Moore ($20 million) have massive base salaries next season.
It seems impossible for the Eagles to fit either player under the cap on their current contracts, especially when considering that the Eagles have a slew of free agents of their own to deal with.
Option 2: Roseman Wants Cap Space to Extend a Key Player
This is the more likely scenario. The following Eagles are free agents after this season: Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Javon Hargrave, Jason Kelce, James Bradberry, Isaac Seumalo, Andre Dillard, Kyzir White, T.J. Edwards, Boston Scott, Zach Pascal, Miles Sanders, Rick Lovato, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Sua Opeta, Tyree Jackson, Janarius Robinson, Gardner Minshew, and Marcus Epps.
Several of those players will likely either retire, re-sign on team friendly deals, or move on. Others may not garner much interest from the Eagles, or would be inexpensive.
However, a few will be names Roseman likely would love to keep around that don’t fall into those categories. James Bradberry, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Kyzir White, T.J. Edwards, Marcus Epps, and Isaac Seumalo are the ones to watch.
It would make a lot of sense for Howie Roseman to be looking to extend one or more of those players, with most of the remaining cap space going to the front end of that deal.
It was fairly obvious when the Eagles traded for Gardner-Johnson that they’d be likely to extend him, and Bradberry’s play this year has been exceptional. Don’t be surprised if the Eagles lock one or both defensive backs up to a longer contract before the end of the season.
That said, there’s also option 3: Roseman plans on extending someone, but is currently enjoying the flexibility of having $10 million of cap space with just under a week left before the deadline, and not even he knows how it’ll shake out yet. The next week should be an interesting one for the Eagles.