A look at how Philadelphia spends their resources.

The Philadelphia Eagles are fresh off a Super Bowl victory and looking to run it back in 2025. There’s no arguing with the on-field results: the Eagles have managed to be one of the most consistent contenders in the NFL under head coach Nick Sirianni and general manager Howie Roseman. Since 2021, the Eagles have four-straight playoff appearances, two NFC East titles, six playoff wins, two Super Bowl appearances, and that massive Super Bowl win in February.

That level of sustained success has made Philadelphia a model franchise in the NFL, with plenty of teams looking to the Eagles as a blueprint for success. We all know that the Eagles have an eye for talent, both in the draft and free agency, and seem to have a knack for finding value in their acquisitions. Other teams would obviously like to be able to copy that, but that’s easier said than done.

How do the Eagles build out their roster and choose to spend their money, though? That’s something we can take a closer look at, and something that the rest of the NFL might be able to learn a thing or two from. In this piece, we’ll break down the Eagles spending by position to see if we can glean any roster-building insights from the data. All numbers referenced in this article are provided by Spotrac.

First things first, it’s important to note the difference between “salary cap spending” and “cash spending”. Salary cap spending is money spent that specifically counts towards the NFL’s salary cap, which is set by the league every season. Teams cannot go above the salary cap under any circumstances–the NFL takes this very seriously. Cash spending, on the other hand, is the actual money paid out by teams in a given season.

The Eagles are notorious for backloading salary cap and spreading cap hits far into future years through a variety of mechanisms, including prorated bonuses and adding void years. That does make it a little difficult to parse things off of salary cap numbers alone, so we’ll be incorporating cash spending into the mix as well. A great example of this would be comparing the combined salary cap cost of the offense, which ranks 23rd in the NFL, versus the cash spending on offense, which ranks second in the NFL. That’s a huge difference!

The Eagles have one of the most expensive offenses in the NFL

Speaking of the offense, the Eagles have a very good and very expensive offense heading into the 2025 season and beyond. As mentioned above, the Eagles play a lot of games with the salary cap, but the cash tells the true story. While a great deal of their offensive spending has been deferred to future years, Philadelphia is loading up on the offensive side of the ball. Here’s a breakdown of how that spending is broken up by position.

EAGLES TOTAL OFFENSIVE SPENDING

Salary cap spending: 23rd of 32
Cash spending: 2nd of 32
Percentage of cap: 48.4%

The difference between the Eagles’ cap allocations to offense and cash spent on the offense is jarring, but makes a lot of sense. This team is clearly in a winning window and is acting accordingly, pushing tons of money into the future and weighing down future years with some pretty considerable dead cap hits. This is a strategy that has worked well for Philadelphia, but carries a considerable amount of risk down the road.

EAGLES QUARTERBACK SPENDING

Salary cap spending: 20th of 32
Cash spending: 8th of 32
Percentage of cap: 8.3%

Obviously, offensive spending will be higher on any team with a franchise quarterback under contract. Jalen Hurts is no exception, but his cap hit of just $21.9 million is pretty reasonable in 2025. This number will balloon every season until eventually capping out at $47.5 million in 2028, by which time he’s likely to get another extension to continue spreading the money. The two current backups in Tanner McKee and Dorian Thompson-Robinson are making veteran minimum salaries, so the entire QB room is quite affordable this season.

EAGLES RUNNING BACK SPENDING

Salary cap spending: 15th of 32
Cash spending: 1st of 32
Percentage of cap: 3.8%

Saquon Barkley’s new contract sent the Eagles to the top of the list in running back cash spending, but his cap hit in 2025 is very reasonable at just $6.66 million. Given Barkley’s importance to the team, this expenditure makes a lot of sense. None of the other RBs on the roster are making more than the vet minimum or rookie contract.

EAGLES WIDE RECEIVER SPENDING

Salary cap spending: of 32
Cash spending: of 32
Percentage of cap: 11.05%

Wide receiver is another position where the Eagles have deferred most of the salary cap spending into future years. Two massive contracts for A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith will come due eventually, but in terms of salary cap spending, the team is only at 18th. Thankfully, the rest of the room is very affordable, but this group will quickly become extremely expensive as the sixth overall ranking in cash spending shows.

EAGLES TIGHT END SPENDING

Salary cap spending: 9th of 32
Cash spending: 4th of 32
Percentage of cap: 6.4%

It was a bit surprising to see tight end so high on the spending list, but Dallas Goedert’s contract is beginning to become expensive. This room is made up of primarily rookie contracts and veteran minimum deals, but Goedert’s $11.8 million cap hit stands out. Given the team’s financial allocations across the rest of the offense, this is likely a spot where the team will look to save money down the road.

EAGLES OFFENSIVE LINE SPENDING

Salary cap spending: 4th of 32
Cash spending: 9th of 32
Percentage of cap: 25.1%

Finally, the offensive line. This position has long been the Eagles greatest strength, and the team has invested significant financial resources into maintaining it. This group would be expensive to begin with, but Jason Kelce’s dead cap of $16.4 million is a significant weight. That’s a good example of what happens when the bill comes due on all this deferred money – but given Philadelphia’s competitive window, that’s clearly a concern for the future, not now.

What are your thoughts on how the Eagles have constructed their roster and allocated their money, both in terms of the salary cap and cash spending? Are you concerned about the risks of deferring so much money to future years, or do you think the aggressive approach is worthwhile given Philadelphia’s competitive timeline?