QB CONTROVERSY?
The Eagles could have a problem on their hands with both Carson Wentz and Nick Foles on their roster
AS THE Giants enter a pivotal offseason and new general manager Dave Gettleman attempts to fix a roster that produced the most disappointing campaign in franchise history, the landscape of the NFC East looks starkly different than it did in August. And that’s bad news for Big Blue.
The Eagles are Super Bowl champions for the first time in franchise history, after toppling the Patriots Sunday night in Minneapolis. They won without their starting quarterback, Carson Wentz, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 14. They won without their starting left tackle, Jason Peters, who tore his ACL and MCL in October. And they won without their starting middle linebacker, Jordan Hicks, who ruptured his achilles tendon in the same game as Peters’ injury.
Which is to say: The Eagles took home the Lombardi Trophy thanks to their depth, a testament to general manager Howie Roseman, who rebuilt the roster in less than two years after the disastrous Chip Kelly era. And given how Roseman has managed his cap space, the Eagles should — and likely will — contend for titles in 2018 and 2019.
At the crux of this is Wentz, a quarterback who, before tearing the ACL and LCL in his left knee, was the frontrunner for MVP while playing on an extremely cost-friendly rookie contract. Wentz dealt the Eagles a cap hit of just more than $6 million this past season, a mere 3.6% of the team’s total cap space, which ranked 28th among quarterbacks to start at least four games this season. Wentz finished with the fifth-best passer rating among the same eligible signal-callers.
Largely because of Wentz’s contract, the Eagles were able to build a Super Bowl-caliber roster around their young quarterback. They added wide receivers Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith in free agency. They were able to give Nick Foles an above-market-level contract to be their backup quarterback, a move that proved to be paramount in the Eagles’ title run.
The big contracts given to defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, defensive ends Brandon Graham and Vinny Curry, offensive tackle Lane Johnson, tight end Zach Ertz and safety Malcolm Jenkins, among others — all signed before Wentz’s rookie season — were palatable because of the space created by Wentz’s contract. And Roseman should be able to keep this nucleus together for the next two seasons. Under current cap projections from OverTheCap.com, Wentz will take up 4.1% of the Eagles’ cap space in 2018 and 4.5% in 2019 — both very small numbers when you consider Eli Manning will take up over 12% of the Giants’ space in both of those same seasons. (Prescott, for what it’s worth, will take up 0.4% of the Cowboys’ space in 2018, then will likely re-negotiate his deal after the season, when NFL rules allow him to do so.)
The question, of course, is what the Eagles will do with Foles, who will have a cap hit of 4.3% next season based on the current cap projection of around $178 million.
Roseman could trade Foles for draftpick compensation, which would then allow the Eagles to add more low-budget talent. But no one is sure when Wentz will be ready to return to game action, and keeping Foles is a smart insurance policy for Philly.
The Eagles are currently about $10 million over the cap for 2018 and will need to make some cuts and tough decisions to get under the projected $178 million.
Still, they have considerable flexibility because of Wentz’s contract. The Eagles aren’t going anywhere. And between them and Cowboys, the Giants have their hands full.