Eagles 2018 Cap Space: Who will get cut to make room for Alshon Jeffery extension?

Posted December 02, 2017 at 11:27 AM | Updated December 02, 2017 at 11:30 AM

By Eliot Shorr-Parks | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The Eagles have signed wide receiver Alshon Jeffery to a four-year contract extension, the team announced on Saturday, one day prior to their game against the Seattle Seahawks.

The deal keeps Jeffery in an Eagles uniform through the the 2021 season.

The cap numbers for the deal were not announced, but the deal is reportedly a four-year contract worth $52 million, with $27 million guaranteed.

The decision to sign Jeffery is a big one for the Eagles, and is going to have a huge impact on what they can do this offseason. The team is also likely going to need to cut current members of the team this offseason to just get under the salary cap. 

Here is a look at the Eagles' salary cap situation now that they have handed Jeffery a deal that averages $13 million a season:

Philadelphia Eagles v Kansas City Chiefs

Peter Aiken | AP PHOTO

2017: CURRENT SPACE

In the NFL, the unused salary cap space from one season rolls over to the next, so it is important to know how much salary cap space the Eagles currently have.

The bad news -- it isn't much. According to the NFLPA's website, the Eagles have just $2.2 million in salary cap space as of Monday morning. Only four teams have less.

The Eagles' salary cap space took a hit this month with the extension to Jernigan and the deal for running back Jay Ajayi. The Eagles' increased Jernigan's cap hit by $2 million this season in the new deal, and Ajayi took another $300,000.

Assuming the Eagles didn't increase Jeffery's cap hit this season, or decrease it, or sign any more players this season, they should enter next offseason with an extra $2.2 million on top of what they are projected to have.

2018 CAP SPACE

It isn't often the Eagles only carry over just $2.2 million in extra salary, as they usually try to carry over closer to $10 million in space.

To make matters worse, the Eagles' salary cap for 2018 is already airtight.

The Eagles are currently projected to be over the salary cap in 2018 by $450,000. That means even with the rolled over money, the Eagles enter the offseason with roughly $1.7 million in salary cap space -- a miniscule amount and not nearly enough to take care of both re-signing their own players and addressing holes on this team.

Although Jeffery's contract details for next season are not yet out, it will be interesting to see how much cap space he takes up -- and how many players the Eagles will need to release to fit him under the cap. 

BRANDON GRAHAM EXTENSION

Another shoe that is potentially set to drop is a new deal for defensive end Brandon Graham. Graham will be entering the final year of his contract in 2018, and holds a cap hit of just $7.5 million -- a very low number considering he is an elite defensive end. Graham has been looking for a new deal from the Eagles for the last year, and if he doesn't get one, he will likely hold out next year.

The good news is that both sides have incentive to get a deal done, as a new deal would likely lower Graham's cap hit in 2018, and would give the defensive end a fresh batch of new guaranteed money to keep him in Philadelphia for at least another two-or-three years. If Graham does indeed get a new deal soon, look for it to lower his 2018 cap figure, freeing up a few extra million for the Eagles to play with this offseason.

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