Philly Front Office

Cam Jurgens just signed a 4/$68m extension with the Eagles making him the 2nd highest paid center in the league behind the chiefs’ Creed Humphrey. This is pretty close to what we predicted on this site right after the Super Bowl. Further details about the contract are not available yet, but thankfully Howie Roseman generally structures his contracts the same to maximize current cap savings. What can we assume from this deal?

First, it will have void years. Instead of a 4 year contract, think of this like a 9 year contract that includes the current last year of his contract and 4 void years to spread the cap hit around.

Second, the base salaries will all be around the minimum.

Third, it will have option years. Option years act as salary, but instead of counting against the cap in their play year, they are spread over the remaining years of the contract. You’ve heard of restructuring? This is like “pre-structuring.”

Fourth, the signing bonus will be about 25%-33% of the total contract.

Assuming a $20ish million signing bonus and Option years valued at $11 a piece, let’s dive in… (numbers in millions obviously)

This would create a pretty significant dead cap hit in 2030, but if Jurgens ages well extending him will alleviate this problem. Also, since we know he has about $40m guaranteed, this will only cover his signing bonus and most of his first two seasons. So, if he isn’t pulling his weight, it will be easy enough to get off the contract. Just a great signing.

As for this season, the cap number will not be going up much at all, only the amount of the pro-rated signing bonus really. the number also stays VERY low over the next 4 years when cash will be tight. We still have about $22m in cap space come June 1.

I have to note, that the real details of the contract are not out yet, so these numbers will definitely change, but not by much. This is what Howie does.