I have been pacing back and forth for 2 days waiting to write about Brandon Graham’s triumphant return to the Eagles, but I had to wait for the contract details. Behold: 1/$2.444m. I know what you’re thinking, what’s the big deal? Well, this is a fun one because of the cap ramifications. WARNING: The following is for cap nerds and only the bravest of arithmetic adventurers.
The NFL announces things a little differently from MLB. Why are you bringing this up, we are talking football, damnit? Because technically the Phillies signed pitcher David Robertson to a pro-rated $16m contract this season. Because he only played for 2 months, they only paid him $6m. Graham’s deal is worded just the opposite. The $2.444m he is getting is already prorated for the next 10 games. The real technical value is $2.981m.
Wait, that math doesn’t add up! Right you are. That’s because he has a $1.67m signing bonus that has probably already cleared his bank account. His base salary is just above the league minimum for 10+ year veterans ($1.3m vs $1.255m). What this tells me is that the Eagles didn’t go begging BG to come back. He wanted this just as much as the team did. He came back last year on a $4m contract and took less this time around. When Jason Kelce was mulling retirement, each year leading up to the final decision, he was given $9m in 2022 and then $14m in 2023. They NEEDED Kelce to return. BG wants to give it one last run.
The big question is how this will affect the salary cap. This is more complicated than you think. Why? Because BG was already on the cap sheet for this year and next year (Kelce is too by the way and so is Fletcher Cox) because of how his previous contracts were structured and legal cap manipulation. Graham already carried a cap hit of $4.6m this season and a $4.4m hit for next year. That changes now because this 1-year contract is predictably a 5-year deal with 4 extra void years on the end. Now instead of a $4.6m hit this season it becomes a $5.7m.
Wait, why not $7m if his contract is for $2.44m? Because the signing bonus gets spread out over those void years for cap purposes. This is where even more fun begins. Brandon Graham didn’t technically retire from pro football until June 2 last year and he probably won’t retire again until June 2 next year. Why? Because June 1 is a significant day for league wide accounting. Any transaction signed after that date assumes the next season will occur and allows the cap hit to be spread over 2 seasons instead of just 1. Instead of a $4.4m or $5.8m cap hit next season, it will actually go down to $2.9m. Of course, now he is on the books for 2027 as well at a hit of another $2.9m. So, yes, Howie Roseman actually lowered the Eagles cap hit next year by signing Brandon Graham.
The new deal gives the Eagles approximately $11.6m to use to add to the roster before the trade deadline in 12 days.
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