To even think about competing for big-ticket free agents, paying a quarterback $30 million a year or keeping your own best players, NFL teams must have bargain-basement guys on the roster as well.
The more productive players a team has with reasonable contracts, the more flexibility that team has to be competitive at the top of its salary scale.
That's why the NFL draft - or better yet the undrafted player scrap heap - is the lifeblood of every elite football team. The more draft picks you're able to hit on, the more guys you have on your roster making relatively little money but still contributing.
And the more money is available for you to go after expensive guys.
Eventually, those players will need to get bigger contracts - generally after their third or fourth NFL season. But by then the hope is you have another wave of young bargain-basement guys under contract to replace them or provide cap space to keep them.
Let's take a look - in alphabetical order - at some of the biggest salary cap bargains currently on the Eagles' roster. Salary cap positional rankings come from Spotrac. And remember, they don't include unsigned players and draft picks, so all those rankings will be much lower by this fall.
Josh Adams
2019 Base 2019 Cap Figure Avg. Salary Signed Through
$570,000 $570,000 $525,000 2019
2019 Salary Cap Rank among RBs: 89th
Say what you want about the Eagles getting away from Adams in the postseason - he played just one snap - the bottom line is during the second half of the season when the Eagles began winning games, Adams was their leading rusher. From Week 8 through Week 17, he was one of only 15 backs in the NFL with at least 100 carries and a 4.3 average. He was the leading rusher on a playoff team, and he's making minimum wage. The Eagles hold his rights through 2021.
Rasul Douglas
2019 Base 2019 Cap Figure Avg. Salary Signed Through
$670,000 $846,572 $794,010 2020
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2019 Salary Cap Rank among CBs: 85th
Probably the Eagles' most improved player over the second half of last year. Douglas went from riding the bench to making a pretty good case that he has to be a starting cornerback in 2019. He had a team-high three INTs last year in limited duty after picking off two passes as a rookie. The Eagles have him on his rookie deal for two more years.
Corey Clement
2019 Base 2019 Cap Figure Avg. Salary Signed Through
$645,000 $648,334 $558,333 2019
2019 Salary Cap Rank among RBs: 66th
You can't beat an undrafted rookie on a minimum-wage deal who's already been a Super Bowl hero. Clement got hurt last year but he's the only back on the roster that's proven as both a runner and receiver, and he should play a significant role on offense moving forward. Clement is signed through 2019 but the Eagles hold his rights through 2020.
Dallas Goedert
2019 Base 2019 Cap Figure Avg. Salary Signed Through
$735,649 $1, 278,243 $1,406,068 2021
2019 Salary Cap Rank among TEs: 36th
Even playing behind Zach Ertz, Goedert last year was one of just 13 NFL tight ends with 30 catches, 300 yards and four TDs. That's pretty good production for a backup - especially one who is the 36th-highest-paid tight end in the league and under Eagles control for three more years.
Kamu Grugier-Hill
2019 Base 2019 Cap Figure Avg. Salary Signed Through
$720,000 $720,000 $610,089 2019
2019 Salary Cap Rank among LBs: 116th
Kamu was one of the Eagles' bigger surprises last year as a first-time starter. He dispelled the notion that he can only be a special teamer in the NFL, starting 10 games and providing unspectacular but solid play at linebacker. The Eagles still have Grugier-Hill on the four-year, sixth-round rookie deal he signed with the Patriots in 2016.
Cameron Johnston
2019 Base 2019 Cap Figure Avg. Salary Signed Through
$570,000 $577,500 $532,500 2019
2019 Salary Cap Rank among Punters: 24th
The Eagles took a risk going with an unknown, untested punter to replace record-setting (but pricier) Donnie Jones. But Johnston responded with the best punting season in Eagles history. His 48.2 average was 23rd-highest in NFL history, and his 42.7 net is a franchise record. Considering there are 14 punters who average at least $1.4 million per year, Johnston is a bargain. And the Eagles have his rights through 2021.
Cre'Von LeBlanc
2019 Base 2019 Cap Figure Avg. Salary Signed Through
$720,000 $720,000 $675,000 2019*
2019 Salary Cap Rank among CBs: 99th
One of four defensive backs on this list, LeBlanc, who had been released by three teams, blossomed late in the season, giving the Eagles solid playmaking out of the slot. His acrobatic interception of Drew Brees in the playoffs was a real statement early in that game, that this was a different Eagles team than the one the Saints blew out two months earlier. He's signed through 2019 but belongs to the Eagles through 2021.
Avonte Maddox
2019 Base 2019 Cap Figure Avg. Salary Signed Through
$570,000 $726,478 $771,479 2021
2019 Salary Cap Rank among CBs: 96th
Maddox was a real find in the fourth round as a versatile, productive combo safety-corner, and that fourth-round rookie contract means several years of cheap labor for the Eagles, who get a solid starter at a bargain-basement price.
Tre' Sullivan
2019 Base 2019 Cap Figure Avg. Salary Signed Through
$570,000 $570,000 $525,000 2019*
2019 Salary Cap Rank among Ss: 113th
The final d-back on the list, Sullivan is another one who the Eagles found on the street who improved so much during the season that by the playoffs he was a key component of an ever-changing secondary. Sullivan is under contract through 2019 but the Eagles hold his rights through 2021.
Carson Wentz
2019 Base 2019 Cap Figure Avg. Salary Signed Through
$720,000 $8,487,927 $6,669,085 2019
2019 Salary Cap Rank among QBs: 24th
How is a $6.7 million average salary a bargain? Because there are 23 quarterbacks who are earning more than Carson Wentz. At some point, the Eagles will give Wentz a deal in the $30 million-per-year ballpark, but until that happens his cheap-o rookie QB deal gives the Eagles flexibility to add crucial parts around him so once he does sign that max deal the Eagles have a team capable of challenging for a championship.
