The Eagles Have $48 Million in Dead Cap — And It Doesn't Matter

Forty-eight million dollars in dead cap. That's the number staring at the Philadelphia Eagles as they head into the 2026 offseason, per OverTheCap. And if void years hit the books as scheduled, that figure could balloon toward $80 million.

Sounds catastrophic, right? Like the kind of number that should have Jeffrey Lurie firing up the rebuild machine and Howie Roseman dusting off his résumé?

Nah. Not even close.

This is the Eagles doing exactly what they've done for the better part of a decade — and it's why they've been to two Super Bowls in four years while half the league is stuck in cap purgatory wondering where it all went wrong.

Where the Dead Money Lives

The biggest dead cap hits heading into this offseason tell the story of a team that made aggressive moves and isn't apologizing for it:

Bryce Huff leads the way at $16.6 million. That one stings. Huff signed a three-year, $51 million deal before the 2024 season, was a disaster in the defensive scheme, and got moved. You can call it a miss — because it was — but the Eagles ate the cost and moved on rather than letting a sunk cost drag the roster down. That's the right call every single time.

Darius Slay checks in at $13.2 million. Slay was a cornerstone of this defense for years, but Father Time is undefeated. Letting him go was a football decision, and the dead money is the price of doing business when you structure deals to keep your window open.

James Bradberry accounts for $7.7 million, and Brandon Graham — the legend himself — carries $4.4 million. These are the ghosts of contracts past, and they're manageable because the Eagles planned for them.

The Roseman Playbook: Push It Forward, Win Now

Here's the thing that people who freak out about dead cap never seem to understand: this is by design. Howie Roseman's entire financial philosophy revolves around three moves — converting base salary into signing bonuses, spreading cap hits across future seasons, and using void years to create present-day flexibility.

It's financial engineering, and it works because the salary cap isn't static. It goes up every single year. The 2026 cap is projected at $301-306 million per team. In 2020, it was $198 million. That's a 53% increase in six years. Dead cap from old deals gets smaller relative to the pie every year the cap rises. Roseman is essentially betting on inflation, and he's been right every time.

This is why Joe Burrow publicly praised the Eagles' contract structure. This is why other front offices study what Philadelphia does. The rest of the league has taken notice — mostly because the Eagles keep winning while supposedly being in 'cap trouble' every offseason.

The Real Numbers That Matter

Forget the dead cap headline for a second and look at what actually matters: the Eagles currently have roughly $18 million in available cap space with the March 9 legal tampering period approaching. That's not a ton, but it's workable — especially for a team that doesn't need to make splash signings.

Jalen Hurts counts $31.97 million against the cap in 2026 — the third year of his five-year, $255 million extension. That's elite QB money, but it's structured beautifully. A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Lane Johnson, Landon Dickerson — the core is locked up. Jordan Davis is playing on his $12.9 million fifth-year option, which Roseman wisely exercised.

The Eagles don't need to blow anything up. They need surgical moves — maybe restructure a deal or two to create breathing room, target one or two free agents to fill specific holes, and lean on the draft. That's it.

Dallas Goedert Is the Interesting One

The one name to watch in all of this is Dallas Goedert. He's set to become a free agent, and the Eagles are carrying about $20 million in dead cap tied to his deal — money that was offset into the future when they originally signed him. Whether Goedert returns or walks, that dead money hits regardless. But here's the thing: the Eagles already accounted for this. It's baked into the plan.

If Goedert walks, the Eagles save his actual salary while eating the dead cap — which they were going to eat anyway. If he stays on a team-friendly deal, even better. Either way, the Eagles aren't getting caught off guard.

The Bottom Line

Dead cap is the tax you pay for being aggressive. Teams that never have dead cap are teams that never make moves. They're the ones sitting at home in January, patting themselves on the back for their clean cap sheet while the Eagles are playing in the NFC Championship.

Forty-eight million in dead money sounds like a crisis. In reality, it's the receipt for two Super Bowl runs. And with Roseman at the controls, the Eagles will find a way to stay competitive in 2026 — just like they always do.

Trust the process. No, not that one. This one actually works.