Who Are the Biggest Bargains on the Eagles' Roster?

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

Philadelphia Eagles

Complete coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles and their NFL rivals from NBC Sports Philadelphia.

How to watch the Eagles' Week 6 game vs. the Browns

Eagles make a couple roster moves ahead of Browns game

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.

More on the Eagles

Contact Us