SUPER BOWL

his third season and second as the full-time starter has a cap hit of just $4.8 million, the 15thlargest on the team.

In addition to trading for Brown in the offseason, Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman has made multiple shrewd moves. Roseman, who also built the Eagles team that defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 52 five years ago, signed defensive end Hasson Reddick to a three-year, $45 million deal in the 2021 offseason. Reddick, 28, tied for second in the NFL this season with 16 sacks.

And after James Bradberry was cut from the New York Giants, the Eagles signed the veteran corner to a one-year, $7 million deal before the season started, pairing him with Darius Slay on the outside to form one of the best tandems in the league.

The core of the Eagles still lies in homegrown talents, such as Hurts and DeVonta Smith, as well as veterans such as Lane Johnson and Brandon Graham. But the flexibility afforded by Hurts’ contract has allowed Philadelphia to flesh out a deep and talented team.

A few years ago, the Chiefs sat in the Eagles’ position, reaping the benefit of a preternatural talent on a miniscule contract. After leading Kansas City to a victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 54, Mahomes signed a 10year, $450 million extension in June 2020. It was a deal that, while at the time the largest in league history, was structured to give the Chiefs leeway to continue adding talent to the roster.

Over the next two seasons, Mahomes had cap hits of less than $13 million combined. But in 2022, Mahomes’ cap hit ballooned to nearly $36 million, the second-largest in the NFL. And with other large contracts already on the books, the Chiefs had limited room to work with.

Last offseason, the Chiefs were deep in contract talks with Hill, who sought to be the highestpaid player at his position. Ultimately, Kansas City, led by general manager Brett Veach, made the tough decision to trade Hill to Miami, which gave him the contract he desired. While the draft picks sent back in exchange were desired, so was the cap space and ability to sign players at other positions of need.

The risk was one the Chiefs were able to take because of the supreme talent of Mahomes, who won his second Most Valuable Player award this season. Nonetheless, Kansas City found an instant contributor in the draft with first-round cornerback Trent McDuffie (11 starts) and replaced Hill’s production with a group of veteran receivers, including JuJu Smith-Schuster (933 receiving yards) and Marquez Valdes-Scantling (687 yards).

“When we looked at this offseason, I think on our agenda was to add talent to the defensive side, whether it be defensive line or it be in the secondary, and take care of Tyreek,” Veach said during a pre-draft news conference last April. “It became obvious as the free agency started that it was going to be tough to do both. You’re faced