2- Yes, Jason, the NFL cap is 116.7 mil... and that is Arizona's cap.  But the Eagle cap is almost 131 million... over 14mil beyond the avg NFL team this year (See Ruben Frank's cap article http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/reuben_frank/03/01/cap.figures/1.html ).  Thank you Joe Banner.  He has prepared the Eagles to take on an extraordinary cap hit this year to get a Hall-of-Fame talent at wr, and an additional Pro-Bowl talent at cb.

3- Salaries or bonuses might be adjusted or revised on both sides prior to a trade, potentially minimizing the cap hits the teams would need to absorb, both this year and in the future.

4- The key, especially for the Eagles, is the % cap hit they take ongoing for both Fitzgerald and Samuel.  There's no question that the % cap hit they'd take this year would be very high... but I believe the Eagles have specifically prepared to absorb these hits in a "last push" with McNabb as qb.  If appropriately structured, as the cap continues to grow, these players would represent a smaller-and-smaller cap % over time.

5- Just last week, the Eagles were willing to take on a 31 year old Randy Moss for a 3 year commitment at a major cap hit (10+ mil per year over 3 years).  Moss has neither the long term future nor the intellect/demeanor the 24 year old Fitz has.  If they were both pure Free Agents, there's no question the Birds would prefer Fitzgerald.  The issue here is how much in additional personnel the Eagles need to yield to make a trade?  And is it worth it, along with the cap hit, for a "Hall-of-Fame" potential wide receiver?

6- The Eagles have already made a 10 million dollar cap investment this year in Samuel.  I see him a s pro bowl lever corner.  To me, Larry Fitzgerald, right now, is at the next level, Hall of Fame level!  A 24 year old who's already made two pro bowls and had 100 catches?  Come on!  Numbers suggest this guy won't peak until 2012 - 2015!  He will be an NFL elite receiver for a Looong time, and as the NFL salary cap grows, the number he signs for this year will have more and more long term appeal.

Jason, maybe you're right.  It may not be Lito and Reggie for Fitz.  It may not be Fitz.  But it is pretty obvious the Eagles under Joe Banner's peerless ingenuity are prepared for a special 1 year push to acquire key pieces.  And their push for Samuel and Moss suggests they're willing to chase Hall-of-Fame, and or Pro Bowl talent, and compensate them accordingly.  So I disagree with you that it'd be nonsense to invest an enormous amount of cap space in one or two players this year.  It just has to be a player worthy of that investment.

Last year the Pats had a good season. They added a LB and WR, We added a WR and DE and went to the superbowl. The Niners went to like 3 NFC champions ships and then added a CB and a LB and won the superbowl.

Point being that sometimes it is smart to so whatever to get great talent. I don't think that the Cards are going to keep him so we should try to wait it out but these players could be the difference in millions of dollars in new revenue for the team. How many Samuel and Fitzgerald Jersey's will be sold if we have them in 5 different colors? That means big bucks for Lurie and I think that he would think that this would be a good investment.

You have to understand how the cap works to know why the Eagles would NEVER trade Reggie Brown.

Brown is going to get $2.3 million in 2008 as part of his bonus proration.  That leaves over $8 million in bonus money left for the Eagles to pay him over the course of his deal.

If he is traded, the Eagles still owe him that money, and it would all be forwarded to THIS YEAR.  That would be $10 million in dead money on the 2008 cap just for him.*

Reggie Brown is going nowhere.

If you think about that, and combine it with the fact that taking on Fitzgerald would be a cap headache you understand that there is no way that Reggie Brown is part of any trade package.

*I reserve the right to be wrong here, and I'm sure someone will correct me if I am.

Another player the Eagles are rumored to be looking after, Chad Johnson, has a ton of bonus money left on his deal.  If the Bengals trade him this season they take a $8 million cap hit.

So, 30 million invested in 2 All Pro's could work if all were going to do is pay that to 10 different versions of Reno Mahe and G.Lewis.