The Philadelphia Eagles’ have a lot of dead cap on defense, so how are they spending money on that side of the ball?

The Philadelphia Eagles are one of the most consistently successful franchises in the NFL, and have a proven track record of success since Nick Sirianni took the helm alongside general manager Howie Roseman. That, plus a dominant Super Bowl win in February, make the Eagles an obvious model for other teams to follow. But what exactly is it that the Eagles do that leads to so many wins?

The reality is that it’s a combination of things: coaching, roster management, excellent drafting, and savvy moves in free agency. Some of those can be replicated by other teams, while others can’t – at least, not easily. Every GM thinks they’re going to draft good players and nail their free agency signings, or at least I hope they do!

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. After examining the Eagles’ offense last time, we’ll now transition to the defense. How does Philadelphia allocate money on the defensive side of the ball compared to the offense? 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 deals and spreading salary cap hits far into future years through a variety of mechanisms, including prorated bonuses and adding void years to contracts. 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!

Eagles’ defense is weighed down by dead money, but still affordable

While the Eagles offense is relatively cheap at the moment but will skyrocket in price quickly over the coming years, the defense is currently the opposite. There’s quite a bit of dead money tied up in the secondary and a few big contracts that were just given out, but this side of the ball is in the midst of a significant youth movement. That’s a long-term key for this roster, as there will be limited salary cap left for the defense when the offense’s bills start to come due in future seasons.

EAGLES TOTAL DEFENSIVE SPENDING

Salary cap spending: 13th of 32
Cash spending: 29th of 32
Percentage of cap: 42.7%

The Eagles are spending an above-average amount on the defense heading into 2025, but as you can see by the cash spending, much of this money has already been paid out. That means the defense isn’t going to be a massive financial burden for Philadelphia in the short-term. However, having this many young players making up your roster does come with risks. The Eagles won’t be able to retain and pay everyone they’d like to, which means Howie Roseman will need to continue knocking the draft out of the park to maintain this level of play without additional financial investment.

EAGLES DEFENSIVE LINE SPENDING

Salary cap spending: 30th of 32
Cash spending: 32nd of 32
Percentage of cap: 9.68%

Given how strong and deep the Eagles defensive line has been in recent years, these numbers are a bit of a shock. Obviously, Milton Williams got a massive deal elsewhere, which hurts the rotation. Fletcher Cox’s $10 million dead cap is the biggest expenditure in this group, but Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis could be in line for massive contracts in the near future.

EAGLES LINEBACKER SPENDING

Salary cap spending: 5th of 32
Cash spending: 6th of 32
Percentage of cap: 18.8%

Linebacker includes outside linebackers on Spotrac, so this also includes most of Philadelphia’s edge rushers. This is currently the most expensive unit on defense due to massive dead cap hits for Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham alongside a huge new deal for Zack Baun. A number of players on rookie deals and a well below-market contract for Azeez Ojulari help this group immensely in terms of spending, but this is another position that could balloon in cost over time.

EAGLES’ SECONDARY SPENDING

Salary cap spending: 19th of 32
Cash spending: 25th of 32
Percentage of cap: 14.6%

The Eagles secondary has been almost completely revamped from 2024-2025, with rookie stars Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean taking over for expensive veterans Darius Slay and James Bradberry. There will be a significant amount of dead cap associated with the post-June 1st releases of Slay and Bradberry that will spread into 2026, but Philadelphia will get a little bit of space back after that date. The secondary will be depending heavily on the second-year players and a number of safeties on rookie contracts, but this group is a tremendous value at the moment. We’ll see if this is a spot the team continues to prioritize in the draft.

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?