I am not one to use the term “Cap Magic” because I feel like a have a good understanding of how Howie Roseman works the cap sheet. What just happened with Nolan Smith though is truly unique. Earlier this morning it was reported that Smith converted the previously picked up 2027 5th year option into an option bonus. His $12.5m base salary would now change into a $1.5m salary and $11m guaranteed bonus. My initial reaction was “big whoop.” Rookie contracts do not have void years so that option had no where to go for cap purposes. Here’s where the magic comes in.
The Eagles did not simply convert his base salary into an option bonus, Smith had to sign a whole new contract for the same price to add the void years. Now that $11m gets spread over 5 years instead of sitting all in 2027. Why is this magic? BECAUSE NO ONE HAS EVER DONE THIS BEFORE!!! At least not that I know of. One of the key bargaining chips guys looking for their first extensions have is that big 5th year option cap hit. Smith just willingly took that away from himself.
What Happens With Nolan Smith?
Like I said earlier, this is not a normal situation. Why would Smith just handicap his own negotiations? Well, there are two possible reasons. He is either already working on an extension and the Eagles wanted to get this part out of the way already, or the Eagles gave him some sort of no-trade guarantee to at least keep him in Philly through the 2027 season. Since the option was already exercised, Smith was guaranteed to get his money no matter what. He is not taking a pay cut here, but he is also not getting a raise. He had to get something for his trouble with this move or his agent is terrible. His agent is not terrible.
Of course, we don’t know why Smith made this move…at least not yet. It is very possible that the Eagles are trying to eak out every dollar they can, asked Smith to void up now, and made a handshake deal to extend him at the end of his 5th year to maximize everything. That’s unheard of though on a handshake. I still do not really get it. A piece of the puzzle is missing.
Salary Cap Update
The Eagles are looking at a salary cap crunch coming up. While they have enough money to sign everyone, signing Smith was not a part of that plan. Him freeing up this money certainly helps though. His cap hit for 2027 will be around $4m. The rest of that money needs to go somewhere though. Instead of $0 in obligations for Smith in 2028, that now comes to around $8.5m. An extension could bring that down, but we aren’t there yet.
The Eagles have around $12m in cap space remaining this season. If you roll that over into the projected $325m cap for next year, that brings us to $337m for the Eagles. With the Smith move, the 2027 roster currently has $287m on it. Does that mean we have $50m to spend? Not really! Check it out…
One thing we already know is that Lane Johnson is going to retire. His $21m cap hit will go down to $12.25m saving $8.75m. There is also the possibility of Landon Dickerson retiring or at least no longer being with the team. That would save another $8.5m. That brings us to around $67m. There will need to be extensions for Jalen Hurts, Cooper DeJean, and Quinyon Mitchell, but all of this certainly helps.
The Eagles are probably up to something.
Photo: Staff Sgt. Charles Casner, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
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