It was recently reported that the Philadelphia Eagles have the least amount of cap space available in 2017-18 after the Fletcher Cox deal.

We know that the Philadelphia Eagles have handed out the most guaranteed money during this calendar year by handing out $280,254,834. To put this number into perspective the team that handed out the second largest amount of guaranteed money was the New York Giants who have given out 140,873,332. That’s almost double the money of the number two team that has been handed out by Philadelphia.

While the Cox deal gave the Philadelphia Eagles about 1.5 million in cap relief for this season it also put them over the cap by about 11.5 million dollars for the 2017/18 season. While that looks like a bad number now consider that players like Ryan Matthews and Darren Sproles will be coming off of the books. The Sam Bradford deal is also essentially a one year contract where the Philadelphia Eagles can cut him if they feel like Carson Wentz can take the reigns this season.

Over the cap reports that there is also about 5.4 million in dead money on the cap (money that is paid to players that are no longer playing for the Eagles) due to Mark Sanchez, Riley Cooper, DeMeco Ryans and Evan Mathis. The large hit in dead money (8.8 million) due to the DeMarco Murray and Byron Maxwell trades will also drop after this season. In the decrease in dead money alone the Philadelphia Eagles could get back under the cap by the beginning of 2017.

More important is how Howie Roseman structured the contract extensions that were signed during this period. Roseman has structured the deals so that the biggest cap hit is in the middle of their contracts before Eagles core players are up for extension again. Also, the guaranteed money is spread over the beginning of these contracts so that the Philadelphia Eagles can easily restructure cap hits down or cut players if need be.

The cap is expected to rise at about 8-10 percent per year and that should give the Philadelphia Eagles some financial wiggle room but it also shows that they do not plan to be major players in the free agent market in the near future. The Eagles will look for bargains on the market but outside of the core players that they currently have starters won’t be acquired on the free agent market.

The Eagles are locked into their current core of players until 2020 when Carson Wentz will be up for extension. By that time, Howie Roseman’s betting game will have worked or he will be out of a job. But for his plan to succeed the focus of the Philadelphia Eagles will shift to an area that they’ve been underwhelming in, the NFL Draft.

The Eagles have already shown a commitment to the draft by bringing in Joe Douglas to work under Roseman and control the scouting network. Being that scouting isn’t Roseman’s forte, this move should pay immediate dividends for the Eagles but it won’t have tangible results until next season. Douglas has a good pedigree in scouting after 15 years with the Baltimore Ravens and a year with the Chicago Bears but now drafting will largely be in his hands.

With the draft comes great responsibility but Douglas should be able to handle it. If he can’t the cap won’t be the thing holding the Philadelphia Eagles back, the draft and a lack of young talent will.